There Are Such Things As Second Chances
by Mh60r
Summary: This is a multi-chapter story I'm writing as repentance for my angst/tragedy-filled story "There's No Such Thing As Second Chances." Story starts off pretty much the same way, but quickly moves on from angst/tragedy to more palatable genres such as sci-fi, drama, action, and of course, CHARAH romance!
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: Welcome to my newest story. I decided to write this shortly after publishing No Such Thing As Second Chances, my first and only Tragedy/Angst foray into Chuck fan fiction. Given how depressing that story was, I wanted to write a more upbeat one. The result is this story. Please note that the Prologue is pretty much a word for word rehash of No Such Thing As Second Chances (with the exception of the ending :-) ). I've also made a few edits to correct some mistakes that I discovered after that story was posted. It's also only fair to point out that the storyline has been influenced by several similar fan fiction stories, most notably a Criminal Minds fan fiction story, The Road Not Taken by Whatif-ifonly and numerous Harry Potter fan fictions that use similar tropes._

 _Please note that I have not abandoned my other ongoing story, Chuck Vs Semper Fi. I will still be updating that story along with this one. I will warn that the pace of updates in either case will be slow._

 _Now on with the story._

 **PROLOGUE**

 **Location Unknown**

Sarah Walker gasped as she struggled to catch her breath and regain her bearings. She was disoriented and every muscle in her body ached. She shook her head trying to clear the cobwebs in her head. She was sitting in what looked felt like a field of grass, surrounded by darkness. Try as she might, she couldn't remember what had happened over the last several hours.

"Calm yourself, Sarah Walker." a voice said from the darkness. Startled, Sarah jumped up on her feet and reached to the waist of her jeans at the small of her back. "Don't bother, Agent Walker, your gun is no longer there."

"Who are you? Where am I?" Sarah shouted, an icy cold stab of fear rushing through her. It had been a long time since she had been in a position like this; unarmed and disoriented, with no idea what was happening or where she was.

"Uh, uh, uh. That's not really true, is it Agent Walker." the voice said. "Why, you found yourself in a similar situation not six months ago."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Sarah said. The voice sighed.

"So you want to do this the hard way, why am I not surprised." the voice said. Suddenly Sarah screamed and doubled over in pain as images flooded through her mind. After a few minutes the pain let up. "Now isn't that interesting. I've known many people who have 'convinced' themselves something happened or hadn't happened, but I've never met someone who been as dedicated to burying such important pieces of her past as you. And I'm not just talking about what happened at the house Burbank...or on the beach later."

Sarah straightened up and shook her head, trying to clear it, her heart sinking as she remembered that day at the beach.

"Who are you?! How did you do that?!" She shouted. She heard footsteps begin walking, getting closer with each second. Finally out of the darkness, came a figure; one that she recognized. "Dad!?"

"Not quite." the figure that looked like her father said. "I've merely taken this form as a means of presenting myself to you. My natural form tends to - overwhelm people."

"Natural form?" Sarah asked, confused.

"Yes. I am one of several guardians of the afterlife; you see, Sarah, you are dead." the figured replied. As he said this, another memory flooded Sarah's mind. "I must admit, your are nothing if not tenacious; you should have been killed a dozen times over the last six months. Yet you managed to escape...until now."

"There were just too many of them." Sarah whispered. She had been sent to retrieve evidence of Russian government involvement in an attempt to influence US elections. She had managed to infiltrate a high-level Russian official's office, and discovered a data drive that had enough information to prove the suspicions of the CIA. However, upon leaving the office, she had encountered a security patrol, and one of them had managed to get a radio report out before she took them out. Within minutes she was being pursued by dozens of agents, and they had finally cornered her in an alley. She managed to dispatch nine of them, before one managed to put a bullet straight through her heart.

"Indeed." the figure said. "It's a shame, really. You did so much good over the last five years, only for it to end like this."

"What do you mean? What about the rest of my time with the CIA? I did a lot of good before the last five years." Sarah said.

"True, you did do some good all through your career. But your greatest good was in the five years you were in Burbank. Your five years with Chuck." the figure said. "And you threw that away, didn't you?"

"No!" Sarah shouted. "It was taken from me! I don't remember anything!" Again she doubled over in pain as a flood of images, feelings, and emotions suddenly coursed through her.

"Sarah, Sarah, Sarah. You really need to stop lying to everyone...and to yourself." the figure said. "While you may not have full, detailed, and coherent memories, you know you have remembered fragments and feelings of your time in Burbank. More importantly, your subconscious and your heart knows and remembers the most important thing, that you loved Chuck Bartowski and married him. And you walked away. I'd like to know why."

"Because I couldn't give him what he wanted!" Sarah shouted. "How can I maintain a marriage when I don't remember anything? I'm not the woman he fell in love with and married. That woman is dead."

"Let's cut the crap, Sarah." the figure said. "The truth is that you were too afraid to stay. You were too afraid to allow yourself to be vulnerable with him. And because you believed, deep down, that you didn't deserve him. That's why you left. And that's why Quinn was able to suppress your memories."

"What?" Sarah asked, confused. More memories flooded her mind.

"You fought falling for Chuck since day one." the figure said. "And even after you fell for him, which was still pretty early on in your time in Burbank, you refused to acknowledge it. You hid behind rules and regulations because you were afraid. Afraid that Chuck Bartowski could never love Sarah Walker. Even when you finally gave in to your feelings and the two of you got together, you held back; never completely surrendering to your feelings or your relationship. You waited six months to unpack when you moved in. You tried to elope rather than getting married in front of a people who knew you both. You used your maiden name even after you were married. And of course, never telling him you're REAL name."

"What does that have to do with Quinn?" Sarah asked, tears starting to fall as she remembered.

"The flash cards that Quinn used only work when strong negative emotions are present. Not just fear, but emotional pain and self-doubt, of which you had much...mostly self-inflicted. And your love for Chuck, while strong, was not as strong as it could have been, not strong enough to offset those emotions. So Quinn was able to wipe your memories. The irony is that if you hadn't fought your love for Chuck so much, and fought his love for you, it would have developed properly over the last five years, and Quinn would not have been successfully in wiping your memories, at least not to the extent that he did." the figure answered. "As it was, your love was strong enough that even though he wiped your memories, residual feelings and instincts remained. You knew, at some level, that the lies Quinn told you were wrong in some way. Yet you chose to ignore them. And because of that, things are now becoming very bad."

"What do you mean? My death?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, but that's only part of the equation. Your abandonment of Chuck and your death has set a significant chain of events into motion." the figure said. "Let me show you." He held out his hand, which Sarah took after a moment's hesitation. The pair was engulfed in a swirl of mist and disappeared.

 **Burbank, CA**

 **Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries**

A large funeral party was gathered at Mount Sinai to pay respects to a father and daughter, both died on the same day. Unbeknownst to the funeral party, a swirl of mist appeared a few feet away, and a man and woman were left standing there when the mist disappeared.

Sarah looked around; she recognized the cemetery; it was where Bryce had been "buried" the first time they thought he had died. Then she saw one of the mourners, a young woman with brown hair, tears streaming down her face. Fear lanced through Sarah.

"No. It's not Devon and Clara." The figure said, pointing to a spot nearby, where Devon was standing, holding his daughter, Clara.

"Who then?" Sarah asked hesitantly.

"I'll give you another hint: it's not Chuck." He said. Sarah racked her brain to try and figure out who he was talking about. After all, besides Devon and Clara, who else –

"Oh, God Casey." Sarah whispered in shock. "How? When? I thought he was in Russia with Gertrude?"

"He was." The figured replied. "Until about two months ago. He came back to try and help Chuck out of the spiral he went into after you left, not that he was able to do much. No one has." Sarah ignored the implication about Chuck for the moment.

"What happened?" Sarah asked again in a whisper.

"They were out to dinner; a routine they had established." The figure said. "This night though, there was an old enemy of Casey's from his years prior to the Burbank assignment watching Alex's apartment. Somehow they had managed to track him down. After they left the complex, Casey's car exploded, killing them both." Sarah began crying at the thought of her former partner and his daughter. "The irony is, it didn't need to happen. Chuck had actually seen the car and its occupant earlier in the day. If he had been able to flash –"

"What do you mean if he had been able to flash?" Sarah asked, horror creeping into her thoughts.

"Come now, Sarah." The figure said patronizingly, "You know as well as anyone that Chuck's ability to use the Intersect is heavily depended on his emotions. Especially his emotions regarding those he loved - like you. The depression that Chuck has been experiencing since you left has been crippling. He hasn't flashed since you left." The statement hung in the air as Sarah grasped the meaning.

"Oh, God." Sarah said. "Casey and Alex are dead because of me?!"

 **Office of Director of National Intelligence**

 **Washington DC**

Once again a swirl of mist had surrounded Sarah and the figure and transported them out of their location and deposited them somewhere else. Looking around, Sarah immediately recognized the office of Major General Diane Beckman. The petite red-headed woman was sitting at her desk, looking haggard, and well beyond the age Sarah remembered.

"What happened to her?" Sarah asked. "How far in the future are we?"

"Only five years." The figure said. "But it's been a hard five years, for her, and the country." He gestured out the window of her office. Sarah moved to the window and looked out, gasping. She had been to the office of the DNI a number of times and had always been impressed with the view. But now that view as anything but impressive. Instead of the expected views of the Washington Monument in the distance and the vibrant city, she saw decay, and signs of violence similar to that of Baghdad after the U.S. had occupied Iraq. In fact, as she watched, she noticed the plume of an explosion in the distance. A corner of her mind identified it as a car bomb.

"What happened?" she asked, stunned.

"About a year after you left Burbank, a new organization appeared on the scene, made up of the remnants of Fulcrum, the Ring, and break-away elements of several other international criminal organizations and financed and supplied by a number of unfriendly governments. Unlike Fulcrum and the Ring, which attempted to wage war from the shadows and seize control of the US and world governments covertly, this new organization, calling itself the Medusa Consortium, was far more willing to engage in less covert actions and more wide-spread violence. There first "public and official" action was a multi-pronged cyber-attack on Wall Street, the banking sector, and the national electric grid. Those attacks crippled the economy, which has yet to recover. Phase II was the manipulation of several political hate and domestic terrorist groups, such as the New Black Panther Party, White Aryan Resistance, the Nation of Islam, the Earth Liberation Front, and the Aryan Nations, into launching competing campaigns of violence against the Government, each other and organizations opposed to those groups. As the violence mounted and law enforcement resources spread thin, they launched their assault on the government. It turned into major insurgency."

"How could that happened?" Sarah asked.

"Truthfully, it was a combination of things that led to this. As you know, the American public and political elite have been getting more and more fractured and vehement in their opposition to those who didn't agree with them. Distrust of the government over some of the post-9/11 policies and actions of the Bush, Obama, and Clinton administrations reached an all-time high. That environment made it easier for Medusa to manipulate not only the groups I mentioned but the major political parties and the public at large. Add to that the fact that the government no longer had its three most valuable agents in the fight, nor the Intersect, it was simply caught off guard and playing catchup. And of course the spread of ISIS from the Middle East into North Africa and Europe didn't help. Worse still is the fact that no matter what attempts were made to destroy Medusa, they always seemed to be several steps ahead. In fact, at this point, it's only a matter of time until Medusa succeeds in destroying the US government and setting up its own rule. Fortunately, the General will not have to see that."

Just as the figure finished speaking, Beckman looked up from her desk as her aide walked in, carrying a stack of files. Sarah looked at the young man; something seemed to be off about him, but it took a moment for her to realize what it was. Suddenly, in a swift motion, the aide dropped the files and aimed a pistol at the General. Before the General could react, six shots rang out, hitting her in the chest. As she slumped down, the aide turned the gun on himself, placing it under his chin and pulling the trigger.

 **Undisclosed Bunker**

 **Middle of the Nevada Desert**

"Where are we now?" Sarah asked, having once again been transported via a swirl of mist to a new location.

"We are standing in the Medusa Consortium's secret underground research and development facility." The figure said. "It's now two years since the murder of General Beckman. Medusa has all but destroyed the US government and most of the state governments. Oh there are few holdouts, but they would last long. And soon Medusa will be launching a worldwide campaign."

"Oh dear God." Sarah whispered. "Carina? Ellie, Devon, and Clara? What happened to them?"

"Carina was killed attempting to infiltrate Medusa. She had managed to get further into the organization than anyone else - yet somehow Medusa was able to identify her as an agent. Ellie, Devon and Clara were caught in the radiological bombing of downtown Chicago – all three were killed." The figure said. Both remained silent for a moment. "Ask the question you know you want to ask, Sarah."

"What about Chuck?" she asked, barely audible. The figure motioned towards a door off the corridor they were standing in. Trepidation coursed through Sarah's veins, causing her to hesitate before moving towards the door.

Sarah gasped as she stepped inside the room. It was clearly an office of some kind, with computers and a desk. Seated at the desk was a tall lanky man with brown eyes are curly hair, looking decades older.

"Chuck!" Sarah shouted, rushing towards the desk. "What happened to him? Why is he here?"

"You're looking at the reason Medusa has been one step ahead of everyone in this war." the figure said. "Chuck was spiraling into a massive depression after you left; when Casey died, it just got worse. And then word came of you death. He suffered a psychotic break; he became obsessed with the idea that there was a grand conspiracy amongst the government, your families and friends to destroy the two of you. He blamed everything that happened on that conspiracy. He faked his own death in a fire and went underground, eventually making contact with Medusa. As odd as it may seem, his psychotic break allowed the Intersect to work again, to an extent. It still provided information, but Chuck's delusional mind was able to meld the information in a way that supported his delusions. It was unfortunate that Carina was brought to a meeting in this bunker; if she hadn't been, she might have been able to get enough information to help the government. Unfortunately, she was, and Chuck saw her. She took several days to die." Sarah's hand went to her mouth and she let out a sob. Chuck was helping Medusa, had turned into a monster. "Don't be too hard on him, Sarah. It's not really his fault; he's not in his right mind." At that moment the phone rang and Chuck picked it up.

"Yes?" he asked. The sound of a mumbled voice could be heard on the other end. After a moment, Chuck said "thank you." He hung the phone up and turned his attention to a picture frame on his desk. Picking it up, he looked longingly at it. Sarah could see that it was a picture of him and her from several years earlier. "It's done Sarah," Chuck said to the picture. "It's finally done. The government will never be able to do what it did to us to anyone else. We've taken complete control. Now I can finally rest."

Sighing he put the picture back down on the desk. He opened a drawer and withdrew a wooden box and placed it on the desk. He opened the top and withdrew the contents, a Smith & Wesson 5906 Semi-Automatic Pistol. Sarah gasped as she recognized it as her favorite sidearm. Before she could process any further, Chuck had inserted a magazine, racked the slide and placed the gun under his chin.

"I'm coming my sweet Sarah." Chuck said, and then pulled the trigger.

"NOOOO!" Sarah shouted, collapsing onto the ground. Then, she was once again surrounded in mist and disappeared.

Location Unknown

Sarah reappeared back in the original location she had awoken in, the figure that took the form of her father standing over her. Several minutes passed as she sobbed hysterically before calming down. Finally she stood up and regarded the figure.

"Ok. I get it. I should never have ran away from Chuck. Hell, I shouldn't have fought so hard in the beginning of the Burbank assignment from falling for him." Sarah said. "Now what?"

"Now, nothing." The figure said.

"What? There has to be something!" Sarah shouted. "Why show me all of this if there wasn't something else. Isn't there some way to change things? Can't you send me back?!"

"No." the figure said. "This isn't some Disney fairytale or convoluted contrived fan fiction story. This is life. You had your shot and blew it. You threw away a life that most people wish for, turned your back on your soul mate. And now you, along with the world, must face the consequences of that decision. There is no such thing as second chances." As he spoke, the mist became slightly thicker, and a faint smell began to make its presence known, though Sarah couldn't quite place it, and the figure began turning his back on her.

"No! That can't be!" Sarah shouted frantically. "There has to be way! Why else would you show me? What kind of angel are you?" Suddenly the smell became stronger, and fear lanced through Sarah as she recognized it: sulfur. Then the figure turned back around to look at her. It was still in the form of her father, but looked different, crueler, with bright red eyes staring at her.

"I never said I was an angel, Agent Walker." The figure stated in a demonic voice, and then began laughing cruelly.

Sarah screamed in terror at the sight in front of her. She realized for the first time where she was. She was in Hell. And worse was the realization that it was of her own making. If only she had known what she knew now back when she walked into the Buymore Burbank for the first time. But as the creature in front of her had pointed out, there was no longer any point in wishing. So she closed her eyes and centered herself, accepting her fate.

"I'm sorry Chuck." she whispered. "This all has been my fault. I deserve whatever happens to me."

"NO!" the creature suddenly shouted. "She's mine!" Snapping her eyes open, Sarah watched in wonder as a bright light began intruding into the mist, blinding her after a moment. Her head began to swim and she began to lose consciousness. As she fought unsuccessfully to stay awake, she heard a calming voice speak to her.

"Don't be afraid, Sarah Walker. All is not lost; you have been granted a rare reprieve and opportunity to change your fate, and that of your soul-mate and friends. You can change things. But heed these warnings: First, not everything can be changed. Chuck's involvement with the Intersect for example. You can only make that situation better for him. Second, the more you change, the less your remembrance of what happened before will be helpful as they presuppose the all the events before them. Choose wisely." The new voice said before Sarah lost her battle to stay awake and the world went dark.


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: Thanks for all the kind reviews. There was such a positive response that I decided to go ahead and write another chapter to this story ahead of schedule (originally I intended to write the next installment of Chuck vs Semper Fi first). This chapter should answer at least one of the questions reviewers have asked - namely the timeline of when Sarah goes back. A word of warning, some characters will definitely be acting out of character (as far as canon is concerned), but that's one of the beauties of writing time travel type stories - those differences can be explained._

 _Finally, I'm looking for beta reader for both this story and my other project, Chuck vs Semper Fi. If anyone out there is interested, please PM me._

 **Chapter 1**

 **September 1, 1997**

 **San Diego, CA**

 **0130 hours**

Sixteen year-old Jenny Burton awoke with a start, sweat pouring off her body, and breathing rapidly. Glancing around her room, she noticed that it was still dark out; her alarm clock read 1:30 in the morning. Closing her eyes, she started taking several slow deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself.

"That was one unbelievable dream." She thought to herself as she felt the panic begin to leave her body. She had dreamed of what appeared to be her future self over the period of what appeared to be several years. The dream had excited her, scared her and pained her all at the same time. "Luckily it was only a dream."

Laying back down, Jenny snuggled into her pillows and tried to sleep. Tomorrow would be her first day at a new school, her sixth since going on the road with her father. She sighed at the thought; she loved her father dearly, and life with him was certainly exciting, but sometimes she wished she could just be normal. That she could live in one place, go to one school, and have a normal life. Something in her thoughts caused a flood of more emotions and scenes from her dream.

 _"It wasn't a dream, Sarah...or Jenny as you're now calling yourself."_ A voice whispered in her head. Startled, Jenny jumped out of bed, the knife that she kept under pillow, the one her dad had gotten for her two years ago after a con gone bad had almost had her seriously injured, coming out.

"Who's there?" Jenny said.

 _"Calm yourself, my child. You have nothing to fear from me. You cannot see me, because I can't be seen by the living, only heard - and then only very rarely. I am your guardian angel."_

"Bullshit." Jenny looked around again, and seeing no one, she wondered if someone was playing a trick on her. Or worse, if she was going crazy.

 _"No, you are not going crazy. And I am certainly not playing a trick on you."_

"What do you want?"

 _"My task is to merely assure you that you are not going crazy, and that the memories you are experiencing were not in fact a dream. You have been given a rare and priceless gift…"_

 **September 29, 1997**

 **0900 hours**

 **English Classroom**

 **James Buchanan High School**

Jenny (or Sarah as she now thought of herself) yawed as she sat in the back of her first class of the day and reflected on the events of the last four weeks. To say that it had been surreal was an understatement. First to be talking to her guardian agent - an actual Angel! Then to find out that her dream - the dream of a future life and of a soul-mate, an actual soul-mate! - was not a dream, but actual memories of a future life. And to find out that her life had gone so very wrong at the end and that she had been given a chance to fix it!

At first she didn't want to believe it. But after several days of memories of high school surfacing - BEFORE they actually happened, she was forced to admit the truth. That had led to a certain amount of relief. Her greatest fear since her father had taken her on the run after leaving her mother had been that she would be sentenced to life of crime and loneliness. So to find out what she would be doing in the future and of meeting and marrying her soul-mate, had been an uplifting experience. But along with the relief, was equal parts shame and trepidation. Shame that in that other future she had let her father damage her to the point that she resisted falling in love with her soul-mate for so long. And that that had led to so much pain - leading up to the ultimate disaster of losing her memories - and then she had become an even bigger coward and ran, with disastrous results. The trepidation came from the sheer weight that knowledge of the future put on her.

For the last three weeks or so, she had been arguing with herself, trying to decide what she should try and change. Her guardian angel had warned her of the danger involved in trying to change too much, as well as the fact that there were somethings that could not be changed. He was most adamant that she not try and "force" a relationship with Chuck. While she could try and start the process early, it had to develop as naturally as possible.

Sarah still didn't know exactly what she was going to do, but she had laid out several goals. First, since she now knew it would be less than a year before her father would be arrested, and that she would be approached by CIA Deputy Director of Operations Langston Graham, that she would spend that time preparing herself. She would use her knowledge of what she would undergo in CIA training to make sure she was already well on her way to the transformation to Sarah Walker, that way her transformation at the Farm wouldn't be as overwhelming. As a first step, she had begun a physical training regimen. And while she still had a very long way to go, she was enjoying the subtle changes she was noticing.

She had to admit to herself that the first time around, going from the average looking girl that she was to the bombshell the CIA helped her become had caused her to not behave as smartly as she could have at first, and it was that initial period that had given her the reputation as a wild seductress, one that she then tried to overcome by building the "Ice Princess" persona that she had hid behind when she first came to Burbank on the Intersect mission. She swore this time around would be different. Oh she would still do her damnedest to build a solid reputation and be considered one of Graham's top agents - after all that would be important to being able to still participate in whatever form the Intersect project took in this timeline. But she would not allow her job to completely overtake her life and emotions this time.

Second, she was going to find some way to keep Chuck from getting kicked out of Stanford. While she had fallen in love with him right from the start, she had seen Chuck's potential from the other timeline and the struggle it took to help him realize that potential after he was kicked out of Stanford. But she wasn't sure how; saving Chuck would necessitate either allowing him to be recruited for the CIA - and thus possibly getting the Intersect early, or coming up with some other way of stopping his recruitment at that time, while still ensuring that Bryce would send him the Intersect.

Third, she was determined, no matter what, she would not allow the government, especially Graham and Beckman, to treat Chuck as poorly as they had in the other timeline. Finally, she was determined that if and when the time came, she would surrender herself heart, body and soul, without reservation to her love for Chuck. No one would be able to use her doubts or issues to drive any kind of wedge between her and Chuck.

Sarah was startled out of her thoughts the sound of the bell ringing, signaling the end of class. She looked over to see a trio of students, two boys and a girl, get up as a group and head towards the door. The students, Colin Watters, Mark Cantrell, and Amy Sinco, were widely-regarded as the biggest nerds in the school, and were especially known for their computer knowledge and skills. While Sarah's future memories including a lot of computer information, she knew even her future self was not much of a computer expert. And yet, she knew that to achieve some of her goals, she would need those skills. Gathering her determination, Sarah grabbed her stuff and hurried after them.

 **September 29, 1997**

 **0917 hours**

 **Hallway**

 **James Buchanan High School**

"Hey guys, wait up!" Sarah called out as she approached the trio from behind. The trio of students turned around, eyes widening slightly. In the four weeks since school started, this was the first time the new girl had spoken to them yet.

"Hi..uh...Jenny, right?" Amy said as Sarah came to a halt in front of them.

"Hi. Yes, Jenny Burton." Sarah replied, holding out her hand to shake Amy's. "And you're Amy right? And you two are Colin and Mark? Nice to meet you." Amy, Colin and Mark all shook her hand. "I understand you three are the resident 'computer nerds' – no offense – of the school."

"Yeah, so what?" Colin asked, slightly belligerently.

"I was, uh, wondering if you could help me learn more about them." Sarah said bluntly. "I'm pretty good with what you might call the common stuff, but I'd like to learn the nitty gritty of them. Like programming, hardware, etc." The three friends glanced at one another for a moment.

"Why do you want to learn?" Mark replied, looking her over in an appraising manner. "After all, you don't strike me as the nerd type." Sarah bristled at this.

"Didn't anyone tell you not to judge a book by its cover?" Sarah responded angrily, and then took a deep breath to calm herself. "You're right; I don't consider myself a nerd, but I do believe in being well-rounded. I don't believe in only developing one aspect of my personality. I've been thinking about my future after high school. I still don't know what I want to do yet, but I feel like I should make as many options for myself as possible."

"Ok, I'll help." Amy said. "On one condition. I've seen you running in the mornings before school; I live along the route you use. I'd like you to help me get in better shape."

"What?!" Mark and Colin said simultaneously. "You want to become a jock?" It was clear from their tone of voice what they thought of that idea.

"No you idiots." Amy replied. "But it would be nice to be able to get rid of this baby fat. Not to mention not being the last one picked in gym class."

"Not to mention the health benefits," Sarah said. "And like I said, there's an advantage to being better-rounded." Mark and Colin stared at her and Amy for a few moments.

"Okay. You've got yourself a deal." Mark replied.

 **December 20, 1997**

 **San Diego, CA**

 **1700 Hours**

"I'm telling you darling, this new con is going to be my Mona Lisa." Jack Burton said enthusiastically as he and Sarah sat down to dinner. "The prep work is going to take a couple of months but when we pull it off, it'll be our biggest score yet."

Sarah mentally rolled her eyes as she listened to her father speak. She knew how his con would really end, after all, with him in custody and herself recruited to the CIA. Still, in a way, she felt some relief as he detailed his plans. It meant that the time was approaching when the work she had been putting in the last few months would soon produce results. On the other hand, it meant that she would have to be even more careful. Within a month she knew that Graham would locate her and her dad, and put surveillance on them.

"Fucking bastard." She thought to herself, feeling her anger over what Graham had done in the past timeline and would do again. He knew exactly who Jack Burton was going to con and rather than trying to stop it by arresting her dad for his past crimes, he would wait until both her father and her were in danger, thereby ensuring Sarah's cooperation with his recruitment offer.

She had thought about trying to change her dad's fate but quickly realized the multitude of problems it would cause. Warning her father was out of the question, first because he probably wouldn't believe her and second because if by some miracle he did believe her, he would try to skip town with her and the use her knowledge to further his cons. Doing something to sabotage the con would probably have the same effect. No, after a lot of thought, she realized she'd have to let this play out. Instead she would just have to concentrate on her other plans.

Luckily, things were going good on many of those other fronts. With the help of Amy, Mark, and Colin, she was quickly picking up more computer knowledge that she ever thought she would. That knowledge would not only help her in carrying out some of her other plans, but also help her connect with Chuck just a little bit deeper. In addition, unlike her previous time through the high school, Sarah had allowed herself to actually form a friendship of a sorts with the three, which she enjoyed. To be sure, she had been carefully not to let that friendship get too deep, fearing that if it became too blatant that it would impact Graham's plans for her, something she just couldn't risk.

Physically, she was in the best shape she had ever been in (at least until she had joined the CIA in the other timeline). Additionally, she had started practicing the various martial arts styles that were in her memories, which would also give her an additional leg up.

Long-term, she had begun to build the outline of a plan to improve things for Chuck both before and after he got the Intersect. She just hoped that something strange didn't happen to alter the timeline too significantly until after they met. She had also begun to draft possible contingency plans in case her plans to make the government treat Chuck better this time around failed. If necessary, she would figure out a way for her and Chuck to disappear and work from the shadows to defeat as many of the threats that she knew were going to be coming. Very little of these plans existed anywhere but in her head; she did not want to leave any clues that might cause her father or the CIA to ask any awkward questions.

 **March 18, 1998**

 **Echo Park**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **Bartowski Residence**

 **2230 hours**

Sixteen year old Charles Irving Barowski, or Chuck to his friends and family, stared at the screen in disbelief. For the past three hours he had been engaged in playing an online game, something that wasn't that unusual. As a self-professed nerd, computers and gaming were his form of fun and relaxaon. What was unusual was the fact that he had lost. And to a relative newcomer, as far as he could tell. At least he didn't recognize the screen handle of the player he had been playing.

 _PrincessSLB1981:_ Better Luck Next Time, HanSolo28.

And that was the other thing that was unusual. Unlike most of the players he had encountered, this one was a girl, or claimed to be at least. Chuck was well aware that girls could be just a nerdy as he and his friend Morgan, but generally he didn't encounter them in his online gaming. His fingers began typing a reply.

 _HanSolo28:_ Nice game. How about a re-match now? Chuck typed.

 _PrincessSLB1981:_ Sorry, not tonight. It's late and tomorrow is my running day. I have to get up early to get my 3 miles in before school. How about Thursday? Same time?

 _HanSolo28:_ You run? Why?

 _PrincessSLB1981:_ To stay in shape. I may be a nerd, but that doesn't mean I should neglect everything else. It like being more rounded than the other nerds I know. Besides, exercising really helps clear the mind and helps with concentration, which comes in handy. How about you?

 _HanSolo28:_ Usually I just play video games. I'm not much of an athlete.

 _PrincessSLB1981:_ You should try it. Obviously it's not something you just jump into. I started out just going for long walks. After a week, I'd walk for 10 minutes, then run for 2 minutes. I'd do that for a half hour. Slowly I'd walk less and run more. After a month or two, I was running all the time. Look at it this way, if you get treated at your school anything like I get treated at my school, being able to outrun and escape your tormentors has to be a good thing.

 _HanSolo28:_ Is that why you started doing it?

 _PrincessSLB1981:_ Yes. I've even kind of made a game out of it. I pretend I'm a secret agent trying to avoid the enemy. You know, trying to learn what to look for to indicate what they're going to do so I can avoid it.

 _HanSolo28:_ Maybe you have a point. I'll give it a try.

 _PrincessSLB1981:_ Well HanSolo28, I need to get going. See you on Thursday. Try to bring your A game this time.

With that the screen notified him that PrincessSLB1981 had signed off. Chuck chuckled, and shook his head. This had been only the second time he'd talked to PrincessSLB1981 but he liked her. She was easy to talk to and almost as much fun to play games with as Morgan was. Looking at his clock, he sighed. Maybe she had the right idea. He turned off his computer and walked over and flopped down into his bed to try and get some rest.

 **March 18, 1998**

 **San Diego, CA**

 **2300 hours**

"Dad, I'm home." Sarah said walking into the door of the apartment her and her father shared.

"About time, darlin." Jack Burton said. "I was getting worried. Why were you at the library so late anyway?"

"I told you dad, I had a paper I need to research." Sarah relied.

"I don't know why you work so hard with school." Jack said. "You're plenty smart as it is, plus you have more street smarts that most adults - that's what counts."

"I know dad." Sarah said. "But I was thinking, if I could get better academically, it might be more useful in the future. Maybe it would help us get bigger scores."

"Now that's my girl." Jack said. "Well, time for bed kiddo." Sarah hugged her father goodnight and walked into her room, sighing lowly. She hated lying to her father, but since she couldn't really tell him the truth - 'Sorry Dad, I was using the library's computer to play a computer game with my future husband and trying to guide him into getting a jump start on his physical training that he's going to need when he gets the Intersect' - and she hadn't completely lied, after all. She was trying harder in school this time around and had some work to do on a paper - it just didn't take as long as she had indicated.

After several minutes getting ready for bed, Sarah laid down in her bed and shut off her light. It would be less than 90 days from now when her dad would be arrested, just days after her seventeenth birthday. Then it would be time to move on to the next stage of her plan. She just hoped Chuck would take her suggestion; it would make things easier down the road.


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note: Wow, I just want to say thanks again for all the great reviews. I was a little leery of how my concept for how far back to send Sarah would be received and I'm glad that you all seemed to like it. I know that my concept for this story is a very ambitious one and I hope I can continue to live up to expectations. My current thinking is that I may break this up into several stories, rather than try to make my way through all the time from late high school to season 5 in one story. If I do break it up, this particular story will probably cover up to Chuck and Sarah's college years._

 _Also, I want to give a shout out to the guest reviewer who found the error in continuity in the previous chapter. I've gone back and fixed it._

 _Finally, I'm going to take a brief break from this story to write the next chapter of my other story, Chuck vs. Semper Fi, but I hope to have a new chapter of this story up in about two weeks._

 __

 **Chapter 2  
** **  
March 28, 1998**

 **Echo Park**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **0700 hours**

"Chuck! What are you doing up so early?" Eleanor Faye Bartowski, Ellie to her friends, said as she looked up from the table where she was working, books and notebooks scattered around her. She was a sophomore at UCLA in the Pre-Med program.

"Oh hey Ellie." Chuck said. "I uh..thought I'd get some exercise. Maybe go for a jog." Ellie looked at him in surprise. While Chuck was be no means out of shape, exercise was not his normal thing.

"Really? What brought this on?" Ellie asked.

"Nothing really." Chuck said. "Just something a friend suggested."

"Morgan suggested it?" Ellie asked in disbelief.

"Uh, no. Not Morgan. Another friend." Chuck replied. Ellie looked at him dubiously; besides Morgan, Chuck didn't have any close friends, certainly not one that he would listen to a suggestion like this from.

"And who is this friend? Have I met them?"

"No sis." Chuck answered, rubbing the back of his neck. "I haven't actually met them either; in person that is. It's someone I've been playing Age of Empires with online. We were talking a few nights ago and she mentioned that she was going running in the morning-"

"She?" Ellie interrupted, arching an eyebrow. "So this sudden interest is because of a girl?" Chuck blushed slightly.

"Uh, not exactly. I mean yes, but not in the way you mean." Chuck said. "When she mentioned she was running in the morning, I was surprised. She's definitely a computer nerd; and yet she's athletic. When I asked her why, she said that she preferred to be more well-rounded than the typical nerd."

"And this convinced you to start exercising?"

"Not at first. But the more we've talked, the more I realize she's right. I need to work on being more well-rounded. I mean, look at me, I'm way too lanky. Besides, maybe this way I can work thru some of my awkwardness and clumsiness." Chuck said. Ellie looked at Chuck with a bit of annoyance.

"Chuck, there's nothing wrong with being who you are; you're a great guy, smart and caring. You don't need to become a jock-"

"I know, El. And I'm not saying I want to make major changes. I have no intention of becoming a muscle-bound jock. I just think this will be good for me." Chuck replied. "Look, I want to get going before it gets too hot. Can we drop this, please?" Ellie sighed.

"Sure Chuck. I'm just worried about you. Don't overdo it and be careful."

 **Fifteen Minutes Later…**

Chuck was huffing and puffing as he ran, trying to breathe the way that PrincessSLB1981 had told him. While he ran, Chuck thought back to his conversation with Ellie earlier that morning and felt a slight pang of guilt. He hated fighting with her, and was grateful for how she had raised him once their parents had disappeared. At the same time however, her constant hovering and mothering was a bit much at times. He smiled as he reflected on how much things had changed in just a few weeks. There was a time, not so long ago, he never would have thought to question how his sister treated him. Of course, that was before he started talking to _her_.

He hadn't lied to his sister, not exactly. The arguments that PrincessSLB1981 had made in favor of him expanding his horizons both physically and mentally made perfect logical sense. But that was nothing new. Her arguments, while made in a more nerd friendly manner, were the same arguments that he had heard from teachers, other students, even to a small degree his sister. But none of them had ever managed to get through to him. Only she had. He was at a loss as to why, but there was just something different about this girl he hadn't even met face to face, whose real name he didn't even know. For some reason he felt a connection to this girl like had never felt before. And that made him want to listen to what she had to say.

 **April 15, 1998**

 **Echo Park**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **2300 Hours**

Chuck sighed as he sat down at his computer and logged onto the game server. It had been a very bad day. First he had been late getting to school and barely made it to his first class. Then, at lunch, Steve Jenner, the biggest jerk and bully in the whole school decided to single out Morgan as his target for the day.

Chuck had always tried to protect Morgan and stand up for him, and today was no different. Usually, his humor or height had been enough to diffuse most situations. When it wasn't, he and Morgan had used the tried and true method of running. But today had been different. To start with, Steve Jenner was built like a tank, and had a large group of followers, most of whom were present. So his height was no help, and with Jenner and his gang, humor was just as useless. The smart thing would have been for him to slip away, find a teacher and bring back help. But this day Jenner had been feeling especially vindictive and instead of the normal minor physical altercation, it quickly became apparent that this was not going to be anything good. Chuck couldn't leave him; so he had tried to intervene, hoping that his recent exercise regimen would help.

Unfortunately, though he was in better shape physically, he was completely out of Jenner's league, and had absolutely no fighting skills. So as could be expected, it didn't turn out well. The resulting fight had ended with both he and Morgan in the nurse's office, with black eyes, and his hand feeling like every bone in it had been broken, though they hadn't been. Worse than the physical injury however was Ellie's reaction when he got home.

His sister had always been a bit of a mother hen, but her reaction this time had been through the roof. He marveled slightly at how she seemed to go from freaking out over his injuries and going doctor-mode on one hand and berating him for being so stupid as to get into a fight on the other.

" _Like I had a choice."_ Chuck thought. A beep drew his attention out of his thoughts. Looking at his computer screen, he saw that his cyber-friend had logged on.

 _HanSolo28:_ What's up Princess?

 _PrincessSLB1981:_ Nothing much Han, how about you?

 _HanSolo28:_ Oh nothing big, just trying to get the ringing from my sister's yelling out of my ears.

 _PrincessSLB1981:_ Oh? Did you do something to make her mad?

 _HanSolo28:_ No..yes...kinda…

 _PrincessSLB1981:_ Well that's clear as mud…

 _HanSolo28:_ She's mad because I got into a fight at school.

 _PrincessSLB1981:_ Did you start it?

 _HanSolo28:_ What? No! There's this guy at my school...him and his gang like to pick on people. Today they singled out my best friend Morgan. I tried to help. It didn't turn out so well.

 _PrincessSLB1981:_ So she's mad at you for trying to stand up for your friend? She shouldn't be; you did the right thing. Not to mention the brave thing.

 _HanSolo28:_ Well, my sister's not big on physical violence. She raised me to talk things out.

 _PrincessSLB1981:_ Listen Han, I know you and your sister are close. And from what you've told me, she's done a really good job raising you. But sometimes, Han, talking things out doesn't work. I'm not saying fighting is a good solution, but sometimes it's necessary. And standing up to bullies, and helping friend out, is a good reason to do it if you have to.

 _HanSolo28:_ But it didn't do any good! Morgan still got beat up. I got beat up. And now my sister is mad at me! Not to mention I was scared stiff the entire time!

 _PrincessSLB1981:_ Han, real bravery isn't like it is in our comic books and movies, the fearless hero. Real bravery is being scared and still doing what's right, what needs to be done. That's what you did! Granted, you were fighting above your weight, so to speak. But you can fix that. Take a martial arts class. Or take up boxing at the YMCA. Besides helping you learn how to defend yourself, it's a great complement to the running you're doing.

 _HanSolo28:_ I don't know; I can't picture myself as Bruce Lee.

 _PrincessSLB1981:_ I'm not saying you'll become that; besides most of the movie Kung Fu/Martial Arts stuff isn't real; it's not how a real fight happens. And frankly, even if it was, it would take you decades to get to that level. I'm just talking about learning enough of the basics so that the next time if it comes up, God forbid, you'll be able to help yourself. And Morgan.

 _HanSolo28:_ You might be right. But what about Ellie? She's furious with me as it is.

 _PrincessSLB1981:_ Han, I know you love your sister and she means well. But I think she's overreacting. And I think you need to start thinking about what you want and what you think. I'm not saying deliberately antagonizer her, or ignore her advice, but you have to make these decisions for yourself! Listen to the advice of everyone you trust, but in the end, YOU have to do what YOU want or need. If that means going against your sister's advice, so be it. If it means ignoring mine, fine. It's your decision. Trust me Han, the sooner you establish you are your own man, the better.

 _HanSolo28:_ Speaking from experience?

 _PrincessSLB1981:_ Unfortunately. I know I haven't talked much about my family until now. Truth is, my parents split up a few years ago. My dad got custody of me. Unfortunately, he's a con artist. For two years he dragged me around the country, making me help him in his cons. I finally put my foot down with him a few months ago; told him I wanted no part of it anymore. That I loved him and wanted to live with him but I wouldn't help him anymore. It strained us; but it was the right thing to do. Besides the ethics of the situation, I want my life to be just that, mine.

 _HanSolo28:_ Oh I'm sorry Princess. That's horrible. And here I'm all scared of standing up to my sister.

 _PrincessSLB1981:_ That's sweet of you Han. But I'm okay, really. And my story doesn't make your problems any less valid. The point is, you'll be graduating in a year, then off to college, right? So you're going to be going out into the world and finding your way. If you can't find a way to stand up for yourself with your sister, or friends, or bullies in school, it's only going make it tougher for you later on in life. Like you, I believe that deep down, most people are fundamentally good, if sometimes flawed. But the reality is there are bad people out there, and wishing it away doesn't solve the problem. So it behooves us to make sure we go into it with our eyes opened and as prepared as we can. And try our best to make the world a better place, even if it's just one little corner of it.

 _HanSolo28:_ Wow, that's pretty deep. You've given me quite a bit to think about.

 _PrincessSLB1981:_ Well, no need to think on it right now. How about another rematch? If I remember correctly, I'm leading the series four games to two.

 _HanSolo28:_ You're on!

 **May 28, 1998  
San Diego, CA  
1530 hours  
** _  
_Sarah turned her radio up as she drove home from school, listening to the Chumbawamba song "Tubthumping". Unlike in the previous time frame, though, she was not enjoying the song. She knew, after all, that today was the day that her father would be arrested and she would be approached by Graham. She took a deep breath and centered herself. A lot was riding on today.

A minute later she approached her home, and once again saw the police cruisers and ATF vehicles in front of their home. Her heart quickened; she knew what she would see next. She had been preparing herself for this moment for months, but even with that and having lived through it once before was not making it easy. A moment later she saw her father being led out in handcuffs by ATF agents.

"I'm sorry Dad." Sarah whispered, and then sped off towards her upcoming rendezvous with her destiny.  
 _  
_ **Twenty-five minutes later…  
** _  
_Sarah hid a smirk as she made her way into the woods at Mission Trails Regional Park. After leaving her street, she had followed the previous route she had taken in the other timeline to the park. In the other timeline, she had thought that she had made it there without tail, but this time she knew better. She had spotted the non-descript car following her almost as soon as she had left her street. Coming to the tree where she knew her father had buried the emergency money cache go her, she knelt down and began digging.  
 _  
_Like last time, it only took her two minutes to unearth the cash and its accompanying note:  
 _  
Just in case of an emergency. Love, Dad._

Sarah felt her eyes moisten as she read the note again. Though he hadn't been the best father in the world – he had after all taken his only daughter away from her mother and trained her as a con artist – there was no doubt that her father loved her, in his own way. She began gathering up the package when she heard what she had been expecting, the approach of Langston Graham. Just like last time, she spun around and launched her knife towards him. Unlike last time, where the knife had completely missed Graham before embedding in tree, this time the knife sailed close enough to his right cheek to leave a cut before embedding itself into another tree. Graham's hand went instantly to his face, his eyes widening slightly.  
 _  
Damn. This girl is further along than I thought._ Graham thought to himself. He had of course known that the girl was good with knives, but had assumed that because of her lack of experience attacking a target that she would not be able to draw blood. Obviously he had been wrong. Then he smiled. _All the better. That means it'll take less to mold her how I want._ Graham took a handkerchief out of his pocket and held it to his face. Then he turned to the tree that the knife was sticking out of and looked at it.

"Nice toss." he said, pulling the knife out and walking towards Sarah.

"Who are you?" Sarah asked.

"I'm the man that put your father in prison." Graham replied stepping closer to her. "The question is, who are you? In San Diego you go by Jenny Burton, in Wisconsin it's Katie O'connell, in Cleveland it's Rebecca Franco. Funny thing is, when I look at your birth certificate its-"

"I get your point. What do you want?"

"Your father scammed some pretty dangerous people. I saved his life by putting him in prison."

"Yeah, well don't expect a thank you." _Asshole_. Sarah thought.

"I can save your life too." Graham said. Sarah held out her hands to be handcuffed. "No, not that way. Your dad trained you pretty well. And I've been watching you the last couple of months; you've started expanding on what he taught with skills of your own. CIA can do even better. You like names so much, what do you think about Sarah Walker?"

Sarah stared Graham directly in the eyes as he handed her the knife back. "It sounds fine." she replied, taking the knife out of his hand. "How would this work? I'm still in high school." Graham smiled, obviously pleased that his gambit was working. _Oh Graham, if you only knew what was going to be coming your way when I'm ready._

"I have some employees in the area. They'll take over as your guardians until you graduated." Graham said. "They'll work with you during the school year and teach you what they can. For the summer, well, you've got until school lets out to tidy up your affairs. Then you'll fly out to the East Coast to an alternate CIA training facility, one that's much more secure than the FARM, where you'll undergo go some initial testing. I'll have your new ID ready for you before then. As far as anyone there is concerned, you'll be Sarah Walker, age 18." Graham handed her a card. "This is the address of the people who'll look after you here. They're expecting you within the hour. Don't be late." He turned and started to walk away. "Oh and Sarah? Needless to say, tell no one about this."


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: Wow, I am absolutely humbled by all the positive reviews and feedback I've received for this story! Thank you all._

 _Now for some real world stuff. As you may or may not have heard, the heartless bastards at Netflix are removing Chuck as of Nov 1. This is absolutely terrible idea. Zach Levy had launched a #SaveChuckAgain campaign on Twitter. I encourage all of you to join in. Let's save Chuck for future generations!_

 _I don't own Chuck. If I did, it never would have gone off the air. There never would have been nearly as much angst and contrived love triangles. Chuck and Sarah would have gotten together much earlier. And we would definitely have seen more lingerie/bikini shots of Sarah Walker ;-) There also would definitely have been more Charah love/sex scenes too!_

 **Chapter 3**

 **June 23 1998**

 **1000 hours**

 **Action Martial Arts**

 **Burbank, CA**

 _Wham!._ Chuck hit the floor in a inglourious heap, having just been the victim of a front snap kick.

"Sorry Chuck." Master Kierse said, extending his hand to help him up. Chuck nodded his thanks.

After his conversation with _PrincesSLB1981_ ten weeks earlier, Chuck had decided to sign up for Martial Arts training at a loco dojo. He had chosen this particular dojo because it was the only one that a) didn't look like it catered to action-star wannabes and b) was relatively close to his school so he was able to go there on his way home.

To his surprise, he found that he rather enjoyed it. Master Kierse was a kindly middle-aged man who seemed to be able to sense Chuck's reluctance to engage in physical confrontation and fear of turning into someone who would abuse this training before he had even spoken. But he had taken Chuck by the hand and worked patiently with him.

Very quickly Master Kierse had realized that the key was to concentrate mainly on the defensive aspects of the art, while occasionally slipping in offensive moves. The result was that Chuck was progressing nicely.

"You're doing very well, Chuck."

"Thank you sir. But I'm still uncomfortable with using offensive moves. I don't want to hurt anyone" Chuck said.

"I know Chuck." Master Kierse said, considering his options. He knew that this moment would come and had spent hours trying to figure out how to best get Chuck to understand what he was trying to teach him. Finally, he settled on a combination of using Chuck's nerdiness and love of family. "Chuck, you're a fan of comics, right? And Star Trek, Star Wars, etc?"

"Yeah." Chuck responded, unsure of where this was going.

"All of those, they all have something in common. People engaging forced to engage in confrontations to defend their friends, families, and innocents." Master Kierse said. "And in order to do that, they don't just go on the defense; sometimes they have to attack. And hurt the bad guys."

"But that's all make believe. It isn't real."

Master Kierse shrugged. "It doesn't matter Chuck. The principle is the same. Let's try it another way, with something that's real. You would agree that police necessary? That generally speaking they are men and women who have a desire to help and protect people?"

"Yes."

"Well, they sometimes have to use force to accomplish that. Even kill in order to protect the innocent. Do you hold that against them?"

"No..no. I'm mean, sometimes there's stuff on the news that a cop is corrupt or something but other than that, no."

"Same thing goes for what I'm trying to teach you Chuck. Sometimes in order to protect yourself, you have to inflict harm. Now I'm not saying that should ever be your first option, and you should never use more force than you need. But you must be willing to use these tools." Master Kierse said. Seeing the uncertainty in Chuck's eyes, he continued speaking. "Let's try another scenario, Chuck. You live with your sister right? Imagine you're sleeping one night and someone breaks into the house. You try to call the police, but the phone line has been cut. You hear as scream. You leave your room to find your sister standing in the hall, the intruder there as well. The intruder is armed. He's threatening to stab her. What do you do?"

"Well, I guess I'd have to try and disarm him."

"Ok. Say you manage to knock the knife out of his hand; or that you managed to get it off him, then what?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, what makes you think he'll stop there?" Master Kierse said. "What if he tries to take the knife back? Or just attacks you? Or goes after Ellie?"

After a moment of silence, Chuck responded. "Ok, I get it it. I want to be able to protect my friends and family and myself. I'll try harder. But how do I know how much is enough when the time comes?"

"That is a question with no easy answer, Chuck. Not even for your Comic Book heroes. It is a question that has plagued men and women for centuries. The line between doing what is need to to protect yourself and others and survive on the one hand and overdoing it on the other is not always clear. The good news is, as long as you are asking the question, you probably aren't in danger of going too far." Master Kierse said.

 **Harvey Point Defense Test Activity**

 **AKA "The Point"**

 **Hertford, NC**

 **July 28, 1998**

 **2300 hours**

Sarah Walker lay in her bunk, reflecting on the last two months since her father had been arrested and she had been "recruited" by Graham into the CIA. Everything that had happened before after her recruitment back in May was happening again, at least in terms of general events. What was different was her perspective on those events. In the last time line, she had blindly listened to all the lessons, and trusted that she was being trained just like any other CIA agent. But now, she knew that wasn't true.

Almost from the moment she had arrived at the home of the couple Graham had arranged to be her guardians until she graduated high school, the Langs, she had noticed the duplicity, thanks to her future knowledge. It was clear that while she was indeed being trained in a lot of the skills of a CIA agent, they were being passed to her in a way to craft her to be what Graham wanted specifically: that of the cold hearted Ice Princess and Enforcer. What was especially aggravating to her was the realization that the whole time the Langs were feeding her the "emotions are the enemy of spies" line, this time around she could tell they just weren't two individual spies posing as a married couple. Oh they hid it well, but this time she was able to see the clues. The more she thought about it, the more it angered her. The Langs, Graham, Beckman, Bryce, Daniel Shaw, and countless others had constantly fed her the same line, all the while being hypocrites themselves. As she looked back, many of the missions Graham had sent her on in the old time line had little to do with the "Greater Good" and were in fact part of a power grab to help Graham's advancement, which in turn stroked his ego or were nothing more than revenge missions for some personal slight (real or imagined) that he had been the victim of.

Then there was Bryce and Daniel. Both loudly derided Chuck for his emotions, but in the end, each was just as guilty, if not more guilty of letting their emotions get the better of them. Bryce was arrogant, cocky, and driven by a need to be better than Chuck. And Daniel's desire for revenge over his wife's death was even worse.

Of course, the ultimate hypocrisy was Beckman. The woman who in the other time line had threatened on numerous occasions to remove Sarah from Chuck's protective detail over her feelings for him and had said time and time again that "spies don't fall in love" and "mixing your personal life with your professional is disastrous" had carried on a decades-long love affair with CIA agent Roan Montgomery!

No, this time, Sarah was not going to fall for it. Oh, she would act the good little puppet on the outside while following through on the plans she had developed ever since learning the truth.

Sarah smiled as she thought of all her plans and the fact that she was playing the ultimate spy/con game on Graham, the CIA, the NSA, etc. And the best part was that it was for the greatest prize of all: her soulmate.

 **Home of Langston Graham**

 **Deputy Director of Operations, CIA**

 **Alexandria, VA**

 **August 12, 1998**

 **2100 hours**

Langston Graham savored the taste of his glass of Johnny Walker Blue Label as he sat at his desk reading the latest reports on the training progress on his selected "special" recruits. These were men and women he had personally identified and recruited to be part of his special group of "Enforcer" agents that he used to help further his agency career. They varied in age, background, religion, ethnicity, and economic background. But they all shared one thing in common: they all were wounded in some way emotionally or had a character flaw that Graham felt he could exploit. Each of these agents were being trained at a variety of sites across the United States. Likewise, each of the personnel he had conducting the training were completely under his thumb.

According to the reports, this latest crop looked to be the best he had recruited yet; especially Sarah Walker and the spoiled brat from Connecticut, Bryce Larkin. He was honestly surprised at their results so far, to tell the truth. Walker seemed to require less of the skills training he had anticipated and she was more adept at computer technology than he had expected. On the other hand, her trainers made it clear that the "psychological" training was proceeding as expected.

But Larkin seemed to be the real surprise. Given his background, and personal character flaws - egotism, arrogance, and believing he was God's gift to women - Graham had hesitated initially when he first identified him. And while all of those traits were still there, it seemed to only make him push harder in his training.

 _Those two are likely to be my best Enforcers._ Graham thought to himself. _And I think that if I team them up, I can keep very tight control of them. Of course, they'll have to do some independent work first._

 **Bartowski Residence**

 **Echo Park**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **August 20, 1998**

 **2200 hours**

Chuck stared at the computer screen, somewhat nervously. It was funny, he had never met _PrincessSLB1982_ in person but she had quickly become one of his best friends in the world. Hell, it was possible that in some ways she had become his best friend; not that that he would tell Morgan that.

It had been almost three months since he had talked with her online. She had told him that she was attending a summer camp, and that no electronics were allowed. Tonight was the first night she would be back, and through prior arrangement, they were supposed to meet up online tonight.

 _PrincessSLB1982:_ Hi Han! How's your summer been? How's the martial arts lessons coming?

 _HanSolo28:_ Good. It's coming along. I have to say I thought your were crazy for suggesting it, but I'm actually enjoying it. How was your summer? Enjoy camp?

 _PrincessSLB1982:_ It had it moments. Lots of exercise, fresh air, and learning survival skills.

 _HanSolo28:_ Survival skill? Why would you need to learn survival skills?

 _PrincessSLB1982:_ Well, considering like most summer camps it was in the middle of the woods, you couldn't be too careful. Besides, who knows when you might need to know some of those things. Like I said Han, never turn up your nose at a skill or a piece of knowledge.

 _HanSolo28:_ Maybe you're right. So Senior Year coming up. You have any ideas where you want to go to school or what you want to study?

 _PrincessSLB1982:_ Still trying to decide. One of my teachers, more a mentor actually, thinks I should take up Business Adminstration. Says he thinks between my grades and my SAT scores from last year I can get into just about any school I want. He even says that he thinks he could help me get into Harvard.

 _HanSolo28:_ Harvard? That sounds cool. Wish I could afford it. Business? That's great. I'm think of Stanford, for computer engineering. I'd like to start my own software firm. Hey! Maybe I can hire you to run the business side of it while I handle the nerd side.

 _PrincessSLB1982:_ Hey! Why do you get to handle the nerd side? I'm just a big a nerd as you! Besides, while Harvard and Business Administration does sound good; I'm not sure that's what i want to do.

 _HanSolo28:_ Why not?

 _PrincessSLB1982:_ Mainly because of my dad. He's spent his whole life pursuing money, he it consume him. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to make money, but the more I think about it, I also want to do something that makes a difference, helps people. And if I can find a way to do both, great.

 _HanSolo28:_ Wow. That's pretty insightful for this time of night.

 _PrincessSLB1982:_ Thanks.

 _HanSolo28:_ So any ideas on what you want to do then?

 _PrincessSLB1982:_ Maybe get a criminal justice degree, you know become a cop or a Fed. Or maybe go ROTC. Either way, I'd like to stay in California for school. Maybe I'll see you at Stanford. Who knows?

 _HanSolo28:_ Law enforcement or the military? Those are certainly interesting choices for a nerd like us. But it would be awesome if we were at the same school. Maybe we'd finally be able to meet face to face.

 _PrincessSLB1982:_ Yeah, it would. C'mon, Han, I told you once before, just because you're a nerd doesn't mean that has to be all you are. Besides, both fields are becoming more technology heavy. I mean, our government has an entire AGENCY dedicated to securing our national communications and information systems and breaking into the bad guys'.

 _HanSolo28:_ Maybe you're right. Maybe I have been narrowing my choices based on what I am rather than what I want to do. I'll have to think on it.

 _PrincessSLB1982:_ Well think later. We haven't played in months, I'm dying to kick your but again!


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author's Note:**_ _I know what you're thinking…he finally updated! My apologies for the delay, but life has a way of getting in the way of hobbies unfortunately, between kids, work, holidays, and medical procedures. But here is the long awaited fourth chapter. I'm also halfway through the next chapter of my other story, Chuck vs. Semper Fi and hope to have that posted soon._

 _I'd like to give a special shout out/recognition to CloudZen0, who helped me greatly in the writing of this chapter, from giving me ideas, to helping edit the chapter, as well as writing/re-writing several portions of it to help make things flow better and make it less clunky. I can honestly say this chapter would not have been as good without Cloud's help._

 **Chapter 4**

 **Belmont Senior High**

 **Classroom 101**

 **Echo Park**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **November 7, 1998**

 **1100 hours**

Chuck blew out his breath as he closed the exam booklet and turned it over, and placed his pencil on the desk. This was his third time (the other two being last year) taking the SATs, and in his own mind, his best exam yet.

The proctor finished reading out the scripted instructions before dismissing the test takers. Chuck collected his things, departed the school, and caught a bus out to the Santa Monica Pier where he had planned to meet up with Morgan. Between his training most mornings before school, his martial arts classes with Master Kierse, his late night gaming and chatting with PrincessSLB1982, and his increased efforts in school, Chuck had neglected his oldest friend as of late. A Saturday off at the arcade was just the thing.

"Chuck! Over here!" Morgan was frantically waving with one hand while continuing to point his light gun at the screen.

 _Not more Time Crisis 2_ , Chuck groaned internally. He was happy to spend time with his friend but variety in their gaming selections would have been nice.

"Don't jump in just yet. I've got a free game riding on this." Pointing to another kid standing next to the machine, Morgan continued. "All I have to do is beat his score."

Chuck couldn't help but comment. "Someday, this habit of betting on video games is going to get you in a lot of trouble. Besides, you know how your mom feels about you doing this."

"Man, ever since you got all serious about school, you started sucking all the fun out of life. You even wasted half a Saturday taking a stupid test."

"Morgan, it's the SAT. A good score should help me get a good scholarship so I can afford to get into a good school."

Finishing up an area, Morgan set the light gun down. "I don't know what you're worried about. We already have everything planned out. It doesn't matter where you go. Once you're done, we make some games, sell 'em, and live like kings. Besides, haven't you taken that thing like a million times already?"

"It isn't that simple," Chuck countered. Morgan was notorious at school for his "mad work avoidance skills" that seemed to carry over into every other part of his life. As good and loyal a friend as Morgan was, Chuck was worried how much longer his small friend could skate by on doing next to nothing.

Inspired by his conversations with PrincessSLB1982, Chuck had taken some time to research just what went into making video games. Sure, there were plenty of small studios, but the big ones had high standards and could afford to be picky about whom they hired. And for all that, he wasn't even sure he wanted to make games anymore. He could do a lot more good in other fields.

Regardless, he still needed to get into a good school, like Stanford, something he couldn't afford without a lot of scholarship money.

He had briefly flirted with the idea of going the ROTC route, but he decided he wasn't ready to commit to that kind of lifestyle right now. Maybe he would change his mind later, but for now, he wanted to have his options completely open.

In all honesty, PrincessSLB1982's comment about how the government used tech nerds like him to protect the government's data networks had got him thinking. Lately, he'd been thinking of going into the information security field. He was already a pretty fair hacker and programmer, and if he got into Stanford, he'd be able to expand his own skills greatly. The only question in his mind was whether to go the law enforcement or private industry route. He could make a lot more money in private industry, but the idea of helping catch bad hackers also appealed to him.

Chuck watched as Morgan resumed his furious frenzy of shooting at virtual people. Knowing he was going to be ignored until after the bet was decided, Chuck sighed. "I'm just going to go play Pac-Man or something."

 _Oh well, I don't need to make a decision right now; I've still got the rest of this year and then four years of college to decide._

 **Study Hall**

 **James Buchanan High School**

 **San Diego, CA**

 **December 4, 1998**

 **1430 hours**

Sarah closed her math book and let out a breath. In fifteen minutes her study hall would be over and she would head home. Her schedule since she returned from her summer training had pretty much been the same every day. She would wake at 5am and go for a run. By 7:30 she would be showered and dressed and leave for school, which started at 8:00. After school, she would spend about an hour studying or doing homework she didn't get done in study hall. She would then spend 45 minutes in hand-to-hand combat training with Mr. White, the male half of her guardian agent team. Dinner would be served at 5:00. After dinner, Mrs. White would spend an hour on foreign language and culture instruction. After that, both agents would spend another 1 ½ hours instructing her in various other skills. At 8:30 she would spend 30 minutes on weight training. Her official day ended at 9pm on most days. She would shower again and get changed for bed.

Nothing she was learning in school or from her guardians was new but that didn't mean it was useless. Going back to the fundamentals had proven to be a good idea as there were little tricks that she had long forgotten or let slide. Just as important was the constant practice she was getting.

Every other night, she would use her trade craft and computer skills to slip away from her guardians and chat with Chuck, under the guise of playing a computer game. Her friendships with Amy, Colin, and Mark the year before had certainly paid dividends given her ever-improving situation with Chuck. On nights where she didn't chat with him, she would mentally work on her future plans.

The bell rang, disturbing her thoughts. Quickly packing up her things, Sarah made to leave. Stepping out into the sunlight, free from the confines of school, Sarah heard someone shout "Jenny!" Turning around, she noticed Bradley Johnson approaching.

Bradley was one of the starting five on the varsity basketball team. He was, like Sarah, a senior. He was also one of the most popular boys in the school. In the previous timeline, he hadn't ever paid attention to scruffy Jenny Burton. However, this time, her transformation from ugly duckling to gorgeous blonde CIA bombshell was already well underway. The fact that everyone was overlooking the fact that her father was known to be in "prison" stood as testament to how far along she was.

It also helped that, unlike in the other timeline, Heather Chandler and her idiot friends and troublemakers had been caught engaging in some questionable activities and expelled. Sarah took great pride in ruining the life of a current bitch and future traitor by anonymously delivering evidence to certain authorities. Seeing the popular bullies punished for anything caused a shift in the school. Bullying died down and Jenny's new looks meant she was the a part of the new definition of popular.

It was safe to say she was drawing a lot more attention than before.

Knowing better than to draw even more attention by ignoring the boy and having him chase her, Sarah waited for him to catch up. "Hey, Bradley, what's up?"

"Not much. Say, I was wondering, do you have a date to the Winter Dance?"

Sarah nearly froze at the question but her years of experience allowed her to maintain her composure.

"I'm not saying no, but I don't know if I'm going to be in town. Let me check with my guardians and I'll get back to you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, I understand. Talk to you tomorrow?"

Sarah gave him a smile and a nod before he turned to walk away. Bradley looked understandably disappointed but not as bad as Chuck had the many times she'd crushed his heart.

In the previous timeline, she likely wouldn't have jumped at the attention Bradley and others were giving her; that Jennifer Burton had been crafted to be unpopular. Sarah was the daughter of a con man after all. But not this time around. Jenny could take Bradley up on the offer if she wanted. Sarah was experienced enough that it was entirely acceptable to get involved at school and even date. Then, with well-practiced ease, she could disappear and be forgotten in a week.

The reason for her hesitancy could be summed up in two words: Chuck Bartowski. She loved her past and future husband, quite possibly even more than when they were married in the previous timeline. Knowing the man he would become made everyone else pale in comparison but any physical relationship with him was almost a decade away. What to do until then?

The spy side of her said she had to at least go through the motions of having a relationship or two for the sake of her cover, both in a professional sense and because she knew Graham would be expecting it. But her heart ached at the thought; though she had no intention of getting serious with anyone, she still felt like it would be betraying Chuck.

An additional aspect to that problem was the fact that thanks to her encouragement and prodding, Chuck had come out of his shell and gotten in shape and was attracting female attention that he hadn't in high school last time. He had been asked to his school's Christmas formal. But unlike Sarah, he didn't have his memories or feelings from the previous timeline.

Climbing into her Volkswagen Rabbit, one of her few remaining possessions from her time with her father, Sarah turned towards home, or at least what she temporarily thought of as such.

Left with nothing but the music on the radio and her thoughts, Sarah opted to focus on the music, something she had in common with Chuck, as opposed to her thoughts which were swirling around being without him, on how he was going to the dance with some girl, probably a brunette, with no idea that he was already promised to another. She'd already struggled with that enough in one lifetime, when Chuck had dated Lou, Hannah and even gotten back with the infamous and traitorous Jill Roberts for a while. She hadn't helped the situation with Bryce, Shaw and the various men she'd needed to get close to for work.

It was true. Her love life was a complete mess.

"Sarah." A voice gently disturbed her driving. "Wake up Sarah."

It took her a moment to notice the figure in the passenger seat of her car. She sighed.

"To what do I owe this visit," she asked the figure of her guardian angel. "I thought you said after the last time I wouldn't see you again." Her guardian angel smiled sadly.

"You weren't going to," he declared, "but it was decided that you needed another visit."

"Why?" Sarah asked.

"Because of your anxiety, and some of your plans," the angel said. "Let's start with your anxieties about your relationship with Chuck, Sarah. You and Chuck are destined to be together; nothing will change that. All you can change is how long and how good the relationship is. In your other timeline, you let your anxieties about your past rob you of your life with Chuck. Now, you are in danger of doing the same thing again, because of your anxieties about the future."

The confirmation of the future did ease much of Sarah's anxiety. Knowing that she and Chuck would be together made everything else feel inconsequential.

Her guardian continued. "You also know that you and Chuck are not yet ready to engage in a romantic relationship. It will be several more years before it comes to that point. Much of that is due to him needing more time to become the man you loved. He will get there even if not as soon as you'd like."

"I just have to live through him dating, falling in love, and probably getting his heart broken."

The angel gave her a sad smile. "That's life, Sarah. You still have all your past life's experience. He's just a seventeen year old boy."

Pulling up to a stop, Sarah turned to glare at her angel. Chuck was many things, but he wasn't "just" anything.

"Peace, Sarah," the angel offered. "Important as that is, it isn't why you're getting a second visit. Your second chance was not just for your relationship with Chuck; it was also for your life in general. What will be will be. So you need to relax. There is no reason you cannot live your life; if you don't want to engage too deeply in a romantic relationship, then don't. But don't let your fears rob you of having fun. I can tell you that if Chuck were aware as you are, he would not hold it against you. Besides, there is nothing that says going on a date to a dance or the theater means you must fall in love or engage in physical relations."

Sarah nodded in understanding prompting the angel to continue as she pulled away from the stop sign. "Second, you need to take the same approach with his life. Despite any physical or confidence changes you have started in him, Chuck is not going to turn into another Bryce. But he does need to live his life as his own until the time is right for you two to meet." As much as she understood that, it was hard to accept. He was her Chuck and she had never been one for sharing.

"Now, about the plans you have been making."

"What about them?" Sarah asked.

"Many of them are good and need to be done. But some I'm afraid cannot happen. Specifically, I'm sorry to say that, just as you were unable to prevent the US Embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya back in August, you will NOT be able to prevent the attacks on the USS _Cole_ or 9/11." He responded.

"What? Why?" Sarah asked aghast. Her guardian angel shook his head sadly.

"While mostly practical reasons, such as you not being able to be in the right place at the right time to prevent the attacks as you know them, should you choose to interfere, the repercussions will likely be worse.

"As terrible as those events and many like them were, there are repercussions that I imagine you won't want to live with. If you interfere with the USS Cole attack, you might prevent the September 11th attacks. In doing so, you might save around three thousand lives immediately."

"Exactly!" Sarah exclaimed. "Three thousand people!"

"But you would prevent the version of the Intersect that was created afterwards. Bryce would never join the CIA and would never send the Intersect to Chuck. With the help of your future husband and the Intersect, you saved, directly and indirectly, hundreds of thousands of lives that will otherwise be lost. From a purely numerical standpoint, it is the few against the many."

Swallowing hard, Sarah was forced to admit that her guardian angel made a disgusting amount of sense.

"If necessary, I could also explain the long term implications the attacks had on religious fundamentalism and violent extremism in all faiths but the war on Satan and his influences is, as you might say, above your paygrade."

Sarah sighed. She didn't like it and part of her wanted to rage against what he was saying but she knew from experience that he was right. Sometimes for good to come about, an evil had to occur.

"Okay," she said. "I don't like it, but okay."

"This brings us to our next topic. The one that I'm afraid you're going to have the most trouble with."

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked.

"Chuck and his Stanford situation," he replied. "It's going to be a mixed bag, I'm afraid. Yes, you can try and keep the situation with Jill from happening. Safely. It will have little impact on things if you do, except spare him some pain. Unfortunately, you cannot interfere with his friendship with Bryce or his expulsion, at least initially. Both are too critical to things to come."

"WHAT!?" Sarah shrieked.

"Nothing can change Bryce's involvement in stealing the Intersect. But if he didn't meet Chuck and befriend him, then he would send it to someone else. Someone who will not protect it or use it for as much good as Chuck will."

"What if I got Chuck recruited-" Sarah began.

"NO!" the angel said, shocking Sarah with his tone. "Sarah nothing would be more disastrous. Almost as disastrous as what happened in your previous timeline. The years Chuck spent working as a normal person helped make him the type of person who could be trusted with the Intersect. If he were to be recruited that early, he would go down the same self-destructive path you were on. And you would not be in a position seniority-wise to do anything about it. So Chuck cannot be recruited into the CIA in college. He is simply too promising a candidate for the Omaha Project. If he isn't expelled, he won't be given a choice. Thus, he has to be expelled."

"There must be some other way!" Sarah said. "You know how much damage it did to his self-worth!"

"There is, Sarah. I said you couldn't interfere with his expulsion, initially. But that doesn't mean you can't do something after his initial expulsion. Once Chuck is expelled, you should have enough knowledge, training, and more importantly, contacts to ensure that his expulsion is overturned sooner than it was before. After all, you know how and why it happened."

Making the final turn onto her street, Sarah grumbled. She did not like her Chuck hurting and she knew exactly how much getting expelled hurt him. Granted, the situation with Jill only made everything worse but Chuck had wallowed in misery at the Buy More for four long years before she came into his life.

"I know it is unpleasant but the harsh reality is that Chuck needs that experience, or at least a similar one, for him to be the man you knew. Remember that you brought him out of that slump before and you will do it again. Granted, it should be much easier given how much effort you are putting into your relationship now but the final steps need to wait until then."

"I get it," Sarah huffed. "No getting in the way of Chuck's suffering. Well, then what about the rest of my plans? What about the CATS? What about Operation Bartowski as a whole? What about Chuck's parents?"

"It is perfectly reasonable for you to be frustrated, Sarah. I am simply trying to restrain you from taking on too much, too quickly. Just remember to be mindful of the long-term implications of what you attempt to change. You have always been the 'boots on the ground', as it were, not the one required to focus on the larger picture, something you cannot afford to ignore any longer."

Her angel let a small chuckle slip out. "Though it's perfectly acceptable to craft a cover identity that does not require you to be ogled by hormonal teenage boys and burn breaded processed meat products."

Sarah couldn't fight the embarrassed flush that colored her cheeks. "It would make things easier if I don't have people thinking I'm paying for my Porsche with other revenue." That had always bothered her more than she let on. Sex was rarely used in her business. Seduction, money, gifts, blackmail, frequently. Intercourse, almost never. It was simply too unreliable and used only as a last resort in very particular circumstances.

"Remember, Sarah. You will not be in this alone. You will have Chuck and any number of other allies that you cultivate over the years to help with your missions. As effective a team as you were with Chuck and John Casey, adding others might help. They could also be hindrances, depending on who you add and their relationship with the rest of you. I cannot tell you who might be one or the other. Free will is a very powerful force, after all."

It was as if the angel was telling Sarah that it might be worthwhile to do more than merely be a better friend to Carina and Zondra, and possibly even Amy. Even though her presence had been more than a bit disruptive, Carina was an incredible agent. And a repaired friendship with Zondra was a particular highlight of the previous timeline.

Sighing, Sarah tried to put it all out of her mind for the moment. There was simply too much to consider. The angel's previous point of too much, too soon was making more sense with each topic they discussed.

Her angel paused as Sarah pulled up in front of her home. "There is one final thing, something I suspect you already know. You are right not to trust Graham. He is evil. He must be out of the equation before Chuck gets the Intersect. This will likely be your greatest challenge as his rising status is what put you in position to be assigned to Chuck but the less influence that man has over your future husband, the better."

Sarah had already made plans for Graham. Having to delay them so that she could ride his coattails long enough would be frustrating but such was the way of things.

"Beckman, or at least her attitude, is also a problem but she is not evil; she, like Casey and you in the previous time line, has just lost sight of her humanity. Your team reminded her of it before but it would not go amiss putting some thought into moving up that timetable."

"Anything else?" Sarah growled out. Reassuring or unpleasant, it really was a lot to dump in her lap all at once.

When she didn't get a response, she turned to see the seat next to her empty.

 _At_ _least I've got hand-to-hand training next_ _. It'll give me an excuse to work out my frustrations._


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** So here we are with another chapter of Second Chances. You'll note pretty quickly that there is a large in-story time gap between the previous chapter and this one. I did this in order to move the story along and get to the fun stuff where Chuck and Sarah meet for the first time. But don't worry; I plan on revealing some of the events that fall within that gap throughout the rest of the story.

Finally, once again I am indebted to CloudZen for his help in writing this chapter. If you haven't checked out his stories, I highly recommend you do.

 **Apartment of Agent Sarah Walker**

 **Georgetown, Washington D.C.**

 **September 18, 2007**

 **2200 hours**

Had she the spare thoughts to focus on it, Sarah would have realized her pacing was slowly wearing a hole in the floor of her apartment. She'd been both looking forward to and dreading a certain phone call for a decade. Tonight, that call would come.

Tonight, Sarah Walker would receive orders from the Director of the National Clandestine Service of the Central Intelligence Agency to fly to California to investigate one Charles Irving Bartowski and his connection to the Intersect.

Butterflies in her stomach, Sarah focused her mind on one last revision of her plans. She'd have a head start on General Beckman's team under the command of John Casey, her old partner. Casey's reputation was the same as it had been in the previous timeline, cold, efficient, professional, albeit with a surprising amount of snark and sarcasm kept just beneath the surface. He'd been the best, most consistent partner Sarah could have ever asked for and she had every intent to restore that relationship.

Then there was the upcoming attack on General Stanfield that had only been thwarted before thanks to the timely intervention and creativity of Chuck. That event proved to Graham and Beckman that there was a purpose in keeping her nerd out of a bunker. As nerve wracking as it would be to live though once again, it was completely necessary.

Finally, there was Chuck, her once and future husband. Sarah could only smile at the thought of him. She'd been warned about changing things but there was one thing that persisted through it all: Chuck was Chuck. He was still her sweet, caring nerd that put others first and always tried to see the best in everyone. As frustrating as that would likely prove to be over the coming days, weeks, months and years, it was quintessential Chuck and she wouldn't trade that part of him for anything.

A ringing sound disturbed her musings. Glancing at her phone, she read one of the few names that always brought forth pure rage. Graham. She was once again known as his Enforcer but no one knew just how much she utterly abhorred the man that used her countless successes to rise through the ranks. However, it was the one occasion where she had been fervently anticipating hearing from him.

"Yes, sir?" "Burbank?" "Of course." "Within the hour."

Ending the call, Sarah grabbed her already packed bag. She was one flight away from the most important meeting of her lives.

 _"Let the games begin"_ , she thought to herself as she locked the door behind her.

 **Bartowski Residence**

 **Echo Park**

 **Los Angeles, California**

 **September 18, 2007**

 **2300 hours**

"Dude, I don't get why you keep turning down all of these hotties that Ellie is throwing at you, man." Morgan said from his seat in front of Chuck's TV, game controller in hand.

"I told you, Morgan, I'm just not interested in a relationship right now." Chuck replied. "Besides, all of them look down their noses at me when they find out what I do for a living."

"No kidding." Morgan said. "Then again, you have to admit it is a little unusual to find a Stanford graduate with a dual degree in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering in your line of work. You should be running your own company!"

Chuck sighed; it was an old argument between the two childhood friends, one he also had with his sister Ellie. For years, Chuck had wanted to own his own company and make millions of dollars. For an abandoned child, money meant security, guaranteed food on the table, a roof over his head. Sure, his and Ellie's father sent money after disappearing but it wasn't the same. To a child Chuck, money meant family didn't have to leave.

That had all begun to change after he became friends with _PrincessSLB1982_. It was thanks to her friendship that he had begun to truly heal from his parents leaving. Ellie and Morgan had kept him going but that had been more akin to masking the hurt than moving on. With his friend's encouragement, he began taking charge of his own life and was feeling comfortable in his own lanky skin. He embraced his natural tendency to help people.

His online friend was the only one that supported him wholeheartedly. Even during the horrible time that was his wrongful expulsion from Stanford, she did more than offer words of comfort. She offered direction. She kept him focused. It was thanks to her efforts that he found the courage to challenge what was handed down. Thanks to her, he was now the proud graduate of Leland Stanford Junior University with a Bachelor's Degree with Distinction with a double major in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

That horrible spring had cemented Chuck's path in life.

"Look Morgan, I really don't want to have this argument with you again, little buddy. After what happened at Stanford and the aftermath, I just want to make a difference, help people. There are more important things in life than money," Chuck replied. "I get that you and Ellie don't agree with me, but as my best friend, well best friend I've actually met and spend time with face-to-face at least, I expect that you would at least respect my wishes."

"That's cold man." Morgan said, putting down the controller. "How can you even compare our friendship with that cyber pen pal of yours?" Chuck was about to respond when a beep came from his computer. "Whoa." Morgan said, looking at the screen. "Talk about a blast from the past; looks like Bryce remembered your birthday."

 **Bartowski Residence**

 **Echo Park**

 **Los Angeles, California**

 **September 19, 2007**

 **0800 hours**

Chuck groaned as he struggled to clear his head and get up off the floor. After Morgan had gone home the previous night, he had remembered what weapon he had in his Zork hero satchel back in college and had been able to open the file that Bryce had sent him. He remembered images starting to flash on the screen and then nothing until a few moments ago when his sister's boyfriend, Dr. Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb, had found him on the floor of his room, still in the same clothes he had been wearing during the party the previous night.

 _"What the hell happened?"_ He thought to himself as he stood up, glancing at his clock. " _Shit. I'm going to be late_ ", Chuck quickly grabbed a change of clothes and ran to the shower.

Knowing time was short, Chuck rushed through his morning rituals, taking just enough time to turn on the radio.

The morning DJ's voice filled the shower. "Traffic is slow near the Burbank Airport. Police are checking all traffic..."

Chuck headache worsened as images flooded into his mind. Catching himself just before he slipped, Chuck took a moment to catch his breath and his balance.

"Morgan," Chuck huffed in frustration, "what did I tell you about spiking the punch? I believe I specifically used the word 'don't'." His best friend that he'd actually met in real life wasn't there to hear him but that didn't make the complaint any less valid. Then again, knowing Morgan, he very well could be waiting on the other side of the shower curtain.

When Chuck didn't hear a response to his rhetorical question, he breathed a sigh of relief. Privacy in the shower was one of the few things still sacred to Morgan, apparently.

Hurrying to finish getting ready, Chuck locked up after himself minutes later, a cup of coffee in one hand, the remnants of a breakfast sandwich in the other. Shoving the last bite into his mouth, Chuck unlocked the door to his car and hopped in.

Thinking back to the morning radio, Chuck had one last thought. _"Maybe I'd better stay off the Five, just in case. "_

 **Parking Lot**

 **Burbank, CA**

 **September 19, 2007**

 **1100 hours**

Sarah smiled as she exited her car and walked towards the building where Chuck worked. She had of course known that he had not stayed at the Buy More. With his expulsion overturned and his degree in hand, Chuck had taken the first steps of moving on with his life. Granted, he still helped out with Buy More Nerd Herd jobs on occasion as a contractor, something he did for spare cash, but his life was no longer bound to the insanity that was Big Mike, Lester, Jeff, Harry Tang and, in the future, Emmett Milbarge. Morgan would always be a part of his life but that was an acceptable compromise in Sarah's mind.

It had taken Sarah's direct intervention to get Chuck's expulsion overturned. It was a hard pill to swallow but she couldn't ruin Fleming's life for what he did to Chuck. The man was simply too valuable to the CIA and, Chuck's incident aside, was too good a professor to punish his students and the University. The man had done what he thought best for Chuck. It may have been at Bryce's urging but it was done with the best of intentions. Then again, without Sarah's subsequent actions, her beloved nerd might have remained wallowing in his sorrows regardless of her constant encouragement.

Given the usual stuffiness of academics and their unwillingness to be wrong, it took blackmailing a member of Chuck's Judicial Panel to make them review the case. Under the guise of acknowledging Chuck's numerous appeals, the faculty member found there was simply a lack of evidence to rule Chuck guilty of violating the Honor Code and thus reversed the prior result. The decision was made to drop the class from his transcript and award the remainder of his credits using the grades he had at the time of his expulsion. For the university, it was cheaper and less embarrassing than a possible lawsuit but Chuck hadn't cared one iota about that. He had been so overjoyed that he had been vindicated that he couldn't help but enjoy the moment and let bygones be. His strongest champion, PrincessSLB1982, was the second person to learn of the good news, second only to Ellie. Sarah smiled at the memory.

Once he had been given his degree, Sarah had used her online persona to kick her campaign to make things better for Chuck into high gear. It had been her suggestions that had led Chuck here. It had the advantage of allowing him to use his degrees as well as laying the groundwork for the cover she had been developing for when Team Bartowski came together. The icing on the cake was the fact that in this position, General Beckman was likely to take him more seriously. The degree would help a lot on its own. Three years of employment here would help even more. Walking up to the door, she glanced briefly at the lettering on the door:

Burbank Investigative Services

Sarah took a deep breath, opened the door and stepped inside.

 **Reception Area**

 **Burbank Investigative Services**

 **Burbank, CA**

 **September 19, 2007**

 **1105 hours**

"Can I help you?" Liz Marks, the receptionist asked the attractive blonde as she walked up to her desk.

"Yes. A friend of mine, Mrs. Green, recommended your firm to me.," Sarah said.

"Oh yes, Mrs. Green. We helped her out of a rough spot a while back," Liz replied. "Let me see if Mr. Jones is available."

"Um, not to be a bother," Sarah interjected, "but Mrs. Green specifically recommended Mr. Bartowski to me."

It was only Liz's professionalism that kept her from rolling her eyes. Chuck was very good at his job but almost every female client that he worked with developed at least a small crush on the curly haired nerd. Mrs. Green was mere another in a long line of women that fell for his goofy smile and charming but humble demeanor. If she was the referring party, there was no telling what preconceptions this new client might have about their resident tech guru.

"I'm sorry Ms.-"

"Walker, Sarah Walker."

"I'm sorry Ms. Walker. Mr. Bartowski is not a licensed investigator. All assignments must go through Mr. Jones," Liz replied apologetically. "If required, he'll then bring Mr. Bartowski in on the case." Sarah of course knew this; in fact, her plan required it.

"I understand." Sarah said, resisting the urge to grind her teeth in frustration. Twenty feet were all that separated her from whom she desired most, who she had spent a decade already making life better for. Twenty feet until she could make both their lives better every day thereafter. If it wouldn't have complicated matters, and possibly frighten off her nerd, she'd be marching back there to kiss him stupid, a feat doubly impressive given how smart he was. Wanting to hurry the process along as fast as possible, Sarah asked, "Would Mr. Jones have time to see me now?"

 **Mr. Jones' Office**

 **Burbank Investigative Services**

 **Burbank, CA**

 **September 19, 2007**

 **1105 hours**

"How can I help you, Ms. Walker?" Mr. Jones asked as he sat down at his desk. Sarah glanced him over before responding. Alex Jones looked like your stereotypical Hollywood film Private Investigator. Mid-forties with a slight paunch and receding hairline, he wore an off-the rack suit and drank and smoked too much for his own good. Despite this, he gave off an air of professionalism and competence.

"Well, my friend Mrs. Green told me all about how one of your technicians, Mr. Bartowski I believe his name was, was able to prove her husband was cheating on her by tracking his online activity and footprint." Sarah said. "And I have something of a similar problem. Not a cheating husband, but I have an acquaintance, one I've corresponded with for years, who suddenly stopped replying to me about two months ago. I've tried everything I can think of to locate this acquaintance but haven't had much luck. I'm hoping you can help."

"Well, that can be a difficult thing to do." Mr. Jones said. "And it might not be cheap. Our standard fee is $150/hr, plus expenses. But that's just for standard investigative services. If I or my staff has to go beyond that, it's an extra $75/hr."

"Oh, that is a lot." Sarah feigned slight concern. "But my friend is worth it." Thanks to her record, Sarah was given wide latitude with CIA funds. A few hundred dollars for intel was cheap compared to most brokers she dealt with and no one at Langley would bat an eye at covering the expense, especially given the importance of her current mission. She could have spend tens of thousands and no one would question her judgment. Even if there was an issue, her personal accounts could easily cover such a trivial expense to meet her Chuck. "I'm really worried something might have happened to her." Mr. Jones took a form out of his desk and passed it to her, along with a pen.

"Please fill this client form out." he said. "While you're doing that, why don't you tell me about your friend and why you think she may be in trouble?"

Two minutes later, Mr. Jones was looking for the nearest bottle of aspirin. When will these women learn that you can't have a real friendship with someone you only know by a fake internet name? It was a shame really. The woman in front of him was gorgeous. There wasn't a better way to put it. He'd been in the business a long time and knew there were all sorts of different kinds of people in the world. It still boggled his mind whenever he was faced with a stunningly gorgeous and altogether personable woman that seemed unable to make genuine human connections without two computers and a bunch of wires in between.

If she'd come in about a man, he could better understand it. Especially in Hollywood, people were often excessively shallow. They cared more for looks than personality. It often came back to bite them in the rear when that ugly personality hidden beneath the beautiful exterior made itself known. It was a major reason why he was able to stay in business. Instead, she'd come in about a presumably female internet friend. One never could tell with the internet who was telling the truth and who was lying. Well, Chuck could, but that was because he was the best. There was a reason he'd hired the nerd, after all.

"Ms. Walker," he interrupted before her tale caused him any worse of a headache, "I believe we can help you but you may not like what we find. Internet cases like this frequently end in one of three ways. First, the best case scenario, your friend simply got busy and hasn't been active online. It isn't unusual and some people can go months if not years without contact. Second, a less than great outcome, your friend has been avoiding you. It could be for any number of reasons, something you said, something you didn't say, or even something that had nothing to do with you. Lastly, and while this is the least likely of the three it is a frequent enough occurrence that I need to bring it up, your friend could have passed away. It's one of the hazards of the Internet. A person passes. No one else knows their passwords. Their Internet identity vanishes into obscurity."

She gave him a smile that he could swear hid some truth, as if she knew something he didn't. He would have called her out on it, like he did with most clients that hid things, but she wasn't like other clients. Her expression could easily be mistaken for being optimistic about the outcome of the investigation. Regardless, it wasn't enough for him to turn away the job.

"Finding out what happened, no matter the outcome, will be enough for me."

He grunted. " _Can't tell you how many times I've heard that before. Weird. For some reason, I think she might be the exception and knowing might actually be enough."_ He thought to himself.

"Very well, the initial phase will require our technical expert. Should he find anything actionable, we'll talk about what to do from there."

She nodded in agreement.

Gesturing for her to follow, he made his way out of his office and down the hall. "If you tell him everything he needs to know, he'll come through for you. Our expert is the best."

Had he been facing her instead of opening the door, he would have seen her eyes glued to the nameplate on the wall and the smile on her face. As the door creaked open, he missed her whispered words.

"Yes, he really is."

 **Office of Charles Bartowski**

 **Burbank Investigative Services**

 **Burbank, CA**

 **September 19, 2007**

 **1110 hours**

"Chuck, we've got a new client." Mr. Jones said coming through the door. "This is Ms. Walker."

Chuck looked up from his computer and had to remind himself to breathe. Since starting work for Mr. Jones, he had encountered dozens of beautiful women who came through the office seeking the firm's services but never had he been as taken with them as he was at the sight of this new client. To put it bluntly, he had never seen a more beautiful woman in his life. He instantly felt drawn to her, like a moth to a light. Unbidden, a thought flew through his mind.

 _"This is the woman I'm going to marry."_ Almost as fast as it came, Chuck shook the thought out of his head. It was ridiculous. He hadn't even spoken to her yet, and here he was acting like a bad cliché out of a romantic movie. Regaining his composure, Chuck stood up and offered his hand to her. "Charles Bartowski, Ms. Walker. A pleasure to meet you."

Sarah took his hand, both parties feeling a sense of warmth spread over them as they shook.

"She's already filled out the New Client Information Sheet." Mr. Jones said, handing a folder to Chuck. "Based on what she's told me, I'll need your skills to address her problem."

"Got it, boss." Chuck said. "Please take a seat, Ms. Walker." Sarah sat down in front of his desk.

"Come see me after you're finished, Chuck." Mr. Jones said. "I need an update on the Chandler divorce." With that, he exited the office, closing the door behind him.

"Can I offer you anything to drink, Ms. Walker?" Chuck asked politely. "Coffee, tea?" Sarah shook her head in the negative.

"Please, call me Sarah."

"Ok, you can call me Chuck."

"I didn't know people named their children Chuck." Sarah said, her eyes dancing with amusement.

"Yeah, well, my parents were sadists." Chuck joked, and then turned serious. He opened the folder Mr. Jones had given him and quickly scanned the sheet, sighing inwardly. He hated these kinds of cases. Not because he had anything against the Internet or against online friendships (it would be highly hypocritical if he did), but because very often they didn't end well. Often times it turned out that the person on the other end was taking advantage of an unsuspecting and naïve user. He hated that people could deliberately mislead someone like that.

"So I see you're trying to locate an online acquaintance." Chuck said. "And that you haven't had any contact within the last two months? Is that correct?"

"Yes, that's right." Sarah replied.

"And I'm sure Mr. Jones told you that these kinds of cases are not unusual?" Chuck said. "And that they frequently resolve themselves in a less than satisfactory way?"

"Yes. Like I told Mr. Jones, I just want to know the truth." Sarah replied. "It's the not knowing that is the hardest part. At least if I knew what was going on, I'd have some closure."

"Ok." Chuck said. "The first step is to try and trace the email address that your friend has been using. In order to do that, I'll need both her email address and the one you have been using to correspond with her."

"Certainly." Sarah replied, grinning inside. This was the moment she had been waiting for. Sarah offered a prepared card with her supposed friend's contact information.

"And yours?" Chuck asked while copying the information.

"I use an older personal account," Sarah explained as she handed over a business card with a handwritten email address that Chuck would be intimately familiar with. Holding her breath, she waited for Chuck's eyes to focus on the words that would change his life forever.

He finished copying the false email before his eyes drifted over to Sarah's business card. Seeing them, his hand moved automatically, duplicating the letters. When it started on the numbers, his hand and brain froze.

 _"It can't be."_ He said to himself. _"What would be the odds? On the other hand, the odds say it can't be coincidence either."_

"Chuck?" Sarah asked. "Chuck, are you alright?"

"Uh, yes, sorry." Chuck said. "It's just…your email address? You wouldn't by any chance be a gamer, would you?"

"Why yes, why do you ask?"

"Because I think we've met before." Chuck said slowly. "Well not in person. Online. Is your handle the same as your e-mail address?"

"Yes it is." Sarah replied trepidatiously. "What's your handle." _"This is it!"_ she squealed to herself.

"HanSolo28." Chuck replied, not quite believing what was happening. No sooner had he spoken then Sarah let out a shriek of excitement.

"Oh my God, Han! I can't believe this!" she shouted joyously. Chuck matched her excitement with his own grin.

"You're telling me!" He said. "What are the odds?"

"I know, right." Sarah said. "Anyway, it's good to finally meet you in person."

"Likewise." Chuck said. "I didn't realize you were in Los Angeles now." In fact, thinking back over the last couple of months, Chuck couldn't remember her mentioning anything about where she was in their online chats.

"I moved out here about a month ago." Sarah said.

"A month and you haven't been able to find your friend?" Chuck asked, incredulously. He knew from their ongoing online friendship that _Princess_ , or Sarah as he now knew her, was far from the typical amateur computer user he dealt with. She wasn't anywhere close to his level but she knew her way around computers. Sarah shook her head.

"No." Sarah said. "The best I've been able to do is to track the ISP to the greater LA area."

"Well, let me give it a try." Chuck said. "I have a special program I created that hasn't failed me yet. It'll probably take some time though."

"That's fine, Chuck." Sarah said. Adopting a slightly demure attitude to portray a touch of nervousness, she asked, "Say, now that we've met face to face, finally, would you like to get together later, get some dinner or something and catch up?" Chuck opened his mouth, ready to issue his standard reply he had developed over the last three years to the various female clients that had asked him, and then stopped.

 _"What am I doing?"_ he thought to himself. _"This isn't just a client. This is Princess! I've known her…sort of…for years now. Why shouldn't I have dinner with a friend?"_

"Sure." He said. "How does 7 sound?"

"Sounds great." Sarah replied, wearing a beaming smile thanks to his affirmative answer. "I'm staying at Maison23, room 221. I haven't found a permanent place I like yet."

"Nice digs." Chuck said, whistling. Maison23 was a slightly upscale, boutique hotel and not cheap. Working for a PI firm, Chuck had quickly learned all of the local hotels, upscale or hovel, sites for the frequent salacious rendezvous.

For all the good Chuck knew he did working for Mr. Jones, the cases that kept the firm in business had a tendency to wear on Chuck's soul. Adultery. Embezzlement. Hostile divorces. Cases like those saddened Chuck. It was the cases where he got a widow's money back from a conman or helped prevent a crime in the first place that made Chuck feel everything was worth it.

"Thanks." Sarah said. "Luckily, the severance package I got from my company in DC was generous."

"I'm sorry; I didn't know you were out of a job." Chuck said.

"No need to apologize." Sarah said. "It was for the best. I was looking to make a change anyway. This way I got a nice settlement from them and I can take my time deciding what I want to do."

"Well, if you need any help, let me know." Chuck said gallantly. "I'll pick you up around 7 then?"

"I can't wait." Sarah said, smiling both inside and out.


	7. Chapter 7

**_Author's Note:_** _Here's the latest chapter of the story. Hopefully this chapter will answer some of the questions that several reviewers had asked in their comments. Once again, I want to extend my thanks to Cloud Zen, whose help on this chapter (as well as previous ones, has been invaluable)._

 **Chapter 6**

 **Bartowski Residence**

 **Echo Park**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **September 19, 2007**

 **1730 hours**

"Hey, Ellie, Devon," Chuck greeted them as he entered the apartment they all shared. His sister and her boyfriend were seated on the couch, watching television. Both were still wearing their surgical scrubs, indicating that they had not been home long.

"Hey, Chuckster," Devon responded, not moving from his spot.

Ellie looked up from her seat and asked, "How was work?"

"Interesting," Chuck responded, grinning slightly.

"Oh? And why do you look like the cat that caught the canary?" Ellie inquired.

"I had an interesting meeting today. New client came in. Turns out it was someone I knew, sort of." he replied.

"What do you mean 'sort of'?"

"Uh, it means I've known her for a while, just not in the way you're thinking," Chuck explained. "I've only ever talked to her online."

"One of your gaming pals?" Devon asked.

"Yes…and no. Yes, she's one of the people I meet up with to game online but that's not all." Chuck paused, knowing he was about to cause an eruption. "It was Princess."

At Chuck's statement, both Devon and Ellie exchanged glances. They were aware of the long-standing online friendship that Chuck had with PrincessSLB1982, Chuck had not been shy in talking about her. Both had had mixed feelings over the relationship, albeit for different reasons. Devon had always been worried about Chuck choosing to interact with Princess instead of real people while Ellie had found her own advice ignored in favor of the words of someone she'd never met. Eventually, Devon and Ellie were able to admit that much of the credit for Chuck being able to get past what happened at Stanford had been because of the support given to him from his online friend. For that, both were thankful.

"So? What's she like? Why was she there?" Ellie asked, jumping up and launching into what was a typical interrogation for her.

"She's incredible," Chuck said wistfully. "I've told you about how smart she is and her computer skills, of course, but you know we've never exchanged so much as a picture. So, when I first saw her, not that I knew it was her, it was like getting hit by a freight train." He looked up and away, getting lost in a daydream remembering that first moment. "She's gorgeous."

"Way to go, Chuck," Devon offered with a wide grin, much to Ellie's amusement.

Refocusing on his sister, Chuck continued, "Anyway, she just moved here from D.C. She needs help locating a missing friend. Apparently, another of our clients pointed her in our direction. The boss thought most of the work was going to be cyber, so he brought her to see me. I was getting the basic information I needed which included her e-mail address. Imagine my surprise when she said her e-mail handle was Princess's."

"Impressive coincidence, bro," Devon said.

"Yeah, once I heard that, I asked her about it and told her who I was. She was clearly as excited to meet me as I was her. We talked over her case and caught up a little," Chuck smiled, "and then I asked her to dinner."

Ellie let out a squeal of delight, bouncing in excitement. One of the things that concerned her about her brother was his lack of a love life. Maybe, now that he had met the girl he'd been pining after for the last several years, that would change.

"That's great, Chuck!" she said. "I knew you had it in you! Where are you taking her?"

"I plan on taking her to Broken." He said. "I'm supposed to pick her up at seven tonight so I'm gonna hit the showers and get changed."

Forty-five minutes later, a freshly showered and shaved Chuck stepped out of the apartment and headed towards his car. It had taken recruiting Devon to keep Ellie from picking out Chuck's clothes for him.

"Chuck, wait!" Ellie called from the apartment. Chuck turned to see Ellie coming towards him with some flowers that had been left over from his birthday party. "Give her these. She'll love them."

"Thanks, sis," Chuck said, taking them from her.

"You've got this, little brother." Ellie offered with a relieved and encouraging smile. "You're aces, Charles, aces."

 **Outside Sarah Walker's Hotel Room**

 **Maison23**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **September 19, 2007**

 **1900 hours**

Chuck raised his hand to knock on the door, and then hesitated, taking a moment to compose himself. The constant encouragement and prodding from both his sister and PrincessSLB1982, whom he now knew as Sarah Walker, over the years had helped with his social awkwardness. Some remained but he could mostly control his tendency to ramble in his nervousness.

He had gone on a number of dates in college and afterwards. Sometimes it was due to his own initiative, other times it was thanks to intervention from his fraternity brothers on behalf of some girl. Even Ellie had gotten in on the "Find Chuck a girlfriend" action. There had even been a few girls he'd started to get serious with only for something to go wrong. He did his best to end things amicably with them but hard feelings were difficult to avoid. Chuck didn't like leaving a trail of broken hearts behind him. It was a testament to the kind of person he was that only one ex-girlfriend felt truly jilted.

Part of his difficulty in dating he laid at the feet of Princess, Sarah. It wasn't anything she did but simply the fact that she existed. Her handle gave away that she was a girl but their decade of conversations made her more than a friend. Consequently, every young woman he encountered was compared to Sarah and Ellie and their infinite patience and never ending encouragement.

None ever quite measured up, though a few were close.

He'd never planned on actually getting a chance to meet Princess. She had always been an ethereal entity, an abstract concept. The idea that a mere door separated him from one of the two most influential women in his life, and that he was about to go on a date of all things with her, brought back that childhood nervousness.

"Okay, Chuck," he muttered to himself. "Don't freak out. You can do this."

Finally getting control of his nerves, he knocked on the door.

On the other side of the door, Sarah was staring at her laptop. On the screen was a window, showing a live broadcast of the hallway outside her room. Being able to set up such things without technical support from another operative was a pleasant consequence of her new friendships back at James Buchanan. They taught her enough to get started; the CIA and self-study did the rest.

Watching Chuck confidently walk up to her door had been worrisome. Seeing him pause and psych himself up, mumbling something that her microphones struggled to pick up, caused a smile to break out on her face. It was nice to know that despite his increased confidence and social skills, deep down he was still the same Chuck. His hesitation also gave her a chance to center herself. Ten years had gone into preparing for their first date. Try as she might to control herself, anxiousness crept in.

There was also the issue of breaking the news about her job and why she was here. She knew from past experience that being upfront and honest with Chuck would be critical. Her inability to do so in the past had cost them so much time and brought so much heartache. It might be their fourth or fifth first date, depending on how she counted, but it would be their first to Chuck and she needed to establish a foundation of trust so they could avoid repeating all of the old drama.

She had resolved to tell him about her job and the Intersect before the night was out. The only question was when and how to do it during the night. Part of her wanted to get it over with as soon as he showed up but she had thought better of it. She intended to have a pleasant evening first, then take him to their spot on the beach (not that he would know his spot was their spot) and explain it to him.

 _"_ _I just hope it doesn't destroy any possibility of us,"_ Sarah thought. Her greatest fear was that no matter how she told him, it would push him away. Even though her guardian angel had told her that things would work out, she couldn't help being nervous. She'd been told that things were in her hands, that she could influence the when and how. Yet, delaying things further due to messing things up was too painful to contemplate.

The one item she would not, and could not, tell Chuck was the truth about her knowledge of the other timeline. Her guardian angel had been adamant about that. It was too dangerous for anyone else to have that knowledge, at least for the time being. As a result, Sarah had reluctantly promised not to reveal that secret until much later. She wondered if her guardian had intended to delay the matter until it was no longer important enough to bother mentioning. Sarah had tried similar tactics with various marks in the past, relying on people's tendency to forget details and questions with time and distance. It was sneaky to try to use her own tactics against her but it was a valid strategy to attempt.

A knock at her door drew her out of her thoughts. Closing the laptop, she checked her appearance one last time before approaching the door. Out of habit, she grabbed her gun. Even knowing Chuck still had an aversion to them, considering how every other "first" date of theirs ended, she wasn't going to go without.

A quick check through the peephole caused her heart to skip a beat. Seeing him on a video monitor was one thing. Seeing him with her own eyes, refracted through glass as it may have been, was another.

Taking one last breath to center herself, Sarah donned a smile and opened the door.

"Hi Chuck," she said shyly. Only some of her tone was acting.

"Hi Sarah," he responded. "This is a nice hotel."

"It's ok," Sarah commented. "I'm looking forward to when I can find a place to call home."

Chuck quirked an eyebrow slightly at this statement. There was something in the tone of Sarah's voice that seemed to indicate something much deeper in her statement then merely finding an apartment or a house.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," he said. Unsure of whatever hidden meaning she might have had, Chuck continued nervously. "I'm still living with Ellie and her boyfriend at the moment. You know about my problems with Stanford that forced me to move back in with her. Even though everything was straightened out, Ellie hasn't so much as hinted she wants me to move on. As for me, I just haven't found the right place yet, though I haven't looked especially hard."

"Well, you and Ellie have been there for each other through thick and thin. I can understand her not being in a rush to change that." Chuck smiled at Sarah's understanding. She'd been the one person, other than Morgan, that didn't find it weird how close the Bartowski siblings were.

"Anyway, I'm going to be sticking around for a while," Sarah said. "I'd be happy for any help in finding a place since you've probably done at least some apartment hunting already. I'm guessing you know where the good places are and where to avoid, given your job."

"I just might." Chuck replied, a small smile on his lips. "Anyway, are you ready to go? Our reservations are for 7:45. With traffic the way it is, we should probably get going."

Nodding and locking the door behind her, Sarah had to resist the instinctual urge to take his hand. _"I have to pace myself. Come on too strong and I'll scare him away."_ It was her second time through the most important night of her life. Unfortunately she was the only one who saw it that way.

 **Broken Spanish Mexican Restaurant**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **September 19, 2007**

 **2130 hours**

"Dinner was wonderful," Sarah said as the waitress handed Chuck his credit card back. She had been pleasantly surprised when they ended up at the same restaurant as their "first" first date. Knowing what she did after years of working together and even a couple of marriage, she realized how much that first date must have meant to him.

Given his old Nerd Herd wages, Chuck had spent a miniature fortune on their date. He'd worn the nicest clothes he had short of a suit, chosen with the assistance of Ellie, Sarah had later learned. He'd acted like two days wages spent on food, drinks and the bar where their date went to hell was nothing because the time was spent with her. Sarah hadn't given it a second thought in her first life but knowing better now she felt guilty for how hard he'd tried and how her job had first been to investigate and kill him if necessary.

"We're not quite done yet," Chuck replied, smiling. "Do you feel like some music?"

Sarah had to hide her knowing smile. The first time he asked her that question, she knew next to nothing about music. She never went out of her way to avoid it but it was never important enough for her to pay attention to. Even the flute she used to carry around at James Buchanan was little more than a prop.

Her Chuck had spent years introducing her to music, helping her find her own tastes and learning to appreciate other styles. Knowing how much he loved it, she'd spent a significant portion of her new life continuing that growth. It was as much for him as it was for her.

Laughing, Sarah wrapped herself around one of his arms as they left the restaurant. "As much as I'd enjoy that, I have something else in mind."

Feeling Chuck tense, she relaxed. He was still her Chuck in so many ways, even his tendency to get nervous and freeze up when confronted with a forward woman. He'd eventually grown to where the freeze ups were less frequent and for shorter periods but they still happened even up to the last day she saw him.

"Nothing like that, Chuck," Sarah laughed as she playfully swatted at him. _"No matter how much I would enjoy it."_

"Ah, well," Chuck stammered, "in that case, what were you thinking?"

"How about a walk on the beach?"

Chuck took a moment to think before remembering one key factor. The woman on his arm was Princess. She knew just about everything about him, laughed at his jokes, even the ones he knew were stupid, and seemed to be enjoying their date as much as he was.

He'd often told her in their online chats about his special place. _"Maybe it's time she gets to see it for herself."_

 **Playa Del Raya Beach**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **September 19, 2007**

 **2230 hours**

Sarah had broken out into a massive smile when Chuck had pulled up to their spot. Knowing how much the place meant to him in both lives, she couldn't help but be excited that he was sharing it with her once more. If she had her way, it wouldn't be long before it was once again their spot, not just his spot.

They had spent a half hour walking up and down the beach, gazing at the stars, and the low hanging moon's reflection in the ocean. It would be a few more hours before his father's namesake rose in the east, though Chuck had yet to learn about that detail of his family's past.

Despite her place as one of the CIA's best, she had been unable to do anything about the situation Chuck's parents found themselves in. Alexi Volkoff was too powerful and Mary too entrenched by the time Sarah had a say in her assignments and Stephen could put on the definitive master class on hiding in an increasingly digital world.

Sarah let out a slight breath as she prepared herself for the moment she had been dreading all night. Her early arrival meant Casey wasn't in position yet so she could control Chuck's first exposure to the darker side of life.

Somewhere during the night, she had gone from holding onto his arm to holding his hand. Chuck had blushed slightly but her action had brought the smile to his face that she had longed to see again after all these years.

After finding their way back to his car, the duo had sat down as close to the water as they could without getting wet.

"Chuck, there's something I need to tell you," Sarah began, "but I'm nervous and afraid."

"Why would you be afraid?" Chuck asked. "Whatever it is, you can tell me."

 _"_ _Here we go."_ She thought to herself, and then began speaking.

"Before I get to what I need to tell you, I need to start out by saying that you've always been one of my best friends. I loved all the talks we've had and, to be honest, somewhere along the way I began wondering what it would be when we met." Sarah confessed.

"You say that as if you knew we would meet."

She smiled. "It might have taken longer than I wanted but I always knew it would happen. I just didn't think it would be under these circumstances."

Chuck furrowed his brow at her statement. "What do you mean? What circumstances?"

Taking a deep breath, Sarah said, "Chuck, I'm afraid I wasn't honest with you earlier today about why I was in Los Angeles, and why I came into your office. The friend I asked you to find doesn't exist. It was all a ruse so that I could get close to the person who received an e-mail he never should have been sent." Seeing Chuck's understandable confusion, she continued.

"My bosses have no idea that you and I have known each other for years. If they did, well, I wouldn't be here. When I was given a file on you and realized who you were and that you were the subject of an investigation, I had to make sure no one else got to you first."

Chuck was clearly unnerved. "You're starting to scare me here, Sarah."

Sarah, realizing she was starting to ramble, a habit she'd picked up from her nerd, took another deep breath. "I promise I don't mean to, but, because of the actions of someone else, you've been drug into a world that even working for a private investigator you have no idea how deep the rabbit hole goes." Thinking about what she had just said, Sarah chuckled. She and Chuck had many debates about things like lines from movies. Sarah generally liked to think of the literary source as the best when possible but her nerd always preferred the comic or movie version.

"Does this have anything to do with that crazy e-mail I got from Bryce? The one with all the pictures?"

She couldn't help but smile. Her Chuck was undeniably intelligent and quick witted. It had taken a long time for it to come out before, but it had always been there. She knew there was no way he would miss the obvious connection given her clues. It was actually refreshing to see it so much earlier without all of the extra trials.

Deciding to stop her stalling, she took the plunge. "You were sent an e-mail by a rogue intelligence officer of the CIA."

"Wait, are you trying to tell me Bryce, Bryce Larkin from Connecticut, is a spy?" Chuck's disbelief was palpable.

Sarah nodded. "I am. Chuck, I'm a CIA agent." She saw him freeze at her confession. Knowing what was likely going through his mind, she stated, "No, I'm not making this up and I can and will prove it later." At Chuck's slow nod, she pressed on.

"The reason I'm here is because Bryce stole some very important data and e-mailed it to his former college roommate, you. I was given the name of the said roommate, and the name of the place he worked. There was just enough background information for me to realize that you were Han, my best friend. As far as my orders, I was to go in undercover, find out if you still had the data and whether or not you were partners with Bryce, something I know would happen sometime after hell froze over given what he did to you."

She might be exaggerating things with Bryce, considering how forgiving a person Chuck could be. However, Sarah knew the whole truth about what had happened between the two former best friends. Because of that, she would have a much more difficult time forgiving her former partner even if the two men reconciled this time around. Regardless of her own feelings, she couldn't go without setting the stage for the two friends to reunite and patch things up.

"The CIA doesn't know why Bryce stole what he did or why he sent it to you. It's possible he was trying to do his job and protect the country or he could have been turned. Regardless, he had his reasons. Maybe we'll learn what they were, maybe we won't. What I do know it that I wasn't about to let the Company treat you like a potential terrorist."

Chuck's eyes widened. "Terrorist? What? Just because Bryce sent me an e-mail?"

"It's because of what was in that e-mail," Sarah explained. Gently, she touched Chuck on the cheek, simultaneously calming him and forcing him to meet her gaze. "You are a good and decent man, Chuck. I've known that for years. You don't deserve what happened to you and you certainly don't deserve what the CIA would like me to do to you." Seeing him begin to panic again, she hurriedly continued. "No, no bunker, no hole in the ground. Nothing like that."

"Then what?"

Sarah looked down at the sand, afraid to meet Chuck's eyes. He deserved to know. She knew he could handle it, handle her past, but even the slightest chance of scaring him away ate at her like a pit in her stomach.

"Chuck, I'm very good at what I do. Many would call me the best but that's dangerous thinking. I know you know that there are bad people out there. Sometimes I help find them, sometimes I help expose them. Other times, I'm the one called in to deal with the worst of the worst," she hesitated, "permanently."

He remained silent at her explanation. When he didn't respond, she pushed onward. "One of the things I'm best at is getting close to people and convincing them to tell me things they'd never tell anyone. The reason I'm considered one of the best is because I can trick them into revealing critical information without even realizing they're doing it. My bosses wanted me to turn that skill on you, my best friend, something I could never do and still live with myself."

"Ok." Chuck said. "So what is this data that Bryce is supposed to have sent me?"

Sarah looked up sharply, her mouth agape. She'd been prepared for many things, fear, confusion, even anger. She knew her nerd. What she hadn't prepared for was complete acceptance. She had replayed this scenario many times over the last few years and had prepared herself for every possible scenario, every scenario except this one.

"Chuck...don't you have anything to say about what I told you about me?" Sarah asked. Chuck smiled nervously.

"Trust me Sarah; I have a lot to say." Chuck said his unease obvious in both his body language and his voice. "But I think before we get to that, and what it means for our situation, I need to know what the hell Bryce sent me or can you even tell me if it's some big government secret?"

Relief flooded Sarah's being. The hardest part, in her mind, was over. She knew they still had a lot to talk about, something she was much better at than before, but the fact that they would have that conversation meant she hadn't wasted a decade on a fleeting dream.

"Whether I'm supposed to tell you or not," she answered, "you both deserve and need to know. After 9/11 the CIA and NSA, and the FBI, DEA, DIA, everyone in the Intelligence Community really, were ordered to place nice with each other and share intelligence they gathered. There were lots of separate pieces of intelligence that if any one person had access to them all they might have been able to stop the attacks," Sarah explained. Chuck nodded in understanding.

"To facilitate things, they built something called the Intersect." Before Sarah could explain further, she noticed Chuck begin the telltale sign of a major flash. She'd seen countless flashes and even experienced some herself but this flash was much longer than she had ever heard of. The only thing she could think of that could have triggered one was her naming the Intersect but Chuck had never flashed on the word in the past. Seconds dragged into minutes. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, Chuck came out of the flash.

"Ow! That hurt!" Chuck exclaimed, grabbing his head. After a few moments of rubbing his temples while Sarah rubbed his back, he collected himself and looked up at Sarah, his eyes wide. "That's incredible! I saw the whole thing in my mind. Everything about the Intersect. That's what Bryce stole. And sent to me. And since I opened the e-mail and saw everything, that means...the Intersect is now...in me."

Chuck looked out over the ocean. Sarah sat with him, letting him process everything in his own way. Just above the waves gently rolling in, she heard him mutter something to himself, something that made her smile.

"Don't freak out."


	8. Chapter 8

**_Author's Note:_** _Ok, here's the latest chapter, which apparently is a surprise to some of you based on the reviews of the last chapter – still trying to figure out how so many readers got the idea that the previous chapter was the final chapter of this story. I don't know how far this story is going to go, but its definitely not done yet!_

 _Once again, I'd like to thank my beta-reader, CloudZen, for all the help provided in writing this chapter._

 **Chapter 7**

 **Parking Lot Across from Burbank Investigative Services**

 **Burbank, CA**

 **September 20, 2007**

 **0900 hours**

Major John Casey, United States Marine and Agent of the NSA sat in the passenger seat of the standard-issue government SUV watching the office across the street. With him inside the vehicle were the three members of his team. On his lap was the dossier that the NSA had on his target, Charles Bartowski. His boss assured him the CIA had contributed to it but Casey suspected that, typical of them, they weren't sharing everything they knew. He had spent the flight out here reviewing everything that was known and frankly, he was unsure how he felt about his current assignment.

Looking at the file, he had a hard time believing this kid had been working with Larkin. Hell, if he hadn't personally seen the PDA that Larkin had used to e-mail the Intersect, he would have had a hard time believing that Larkin and this kid would even have been communicating. The file made it pretty clear that this kid was a boy scout. It also made clear that Bryce Larkin had effectively destroyed whatever friendship they had had several years earlier.

 _"I don't know what the hell Larkin's problem was,"_ Casey thought. Try as he might, he could find no reasoning behind Larkin's framing of Bartowski for stealing. The fact that it looked like the kid had managed to pull his life together spoke volumes about his character.

Casey chuckled to himself. Just a few years ago, he never would have been thinking thoughts like this about a target. And if his superiors, especially General Beckman, had known what he was thinking, they would have said he was going soft.

 _"Nonsense,"_ He thought to himself. _"I'm still doing my job; part of my job is figuring out why the bad guys do what they do. Besides, just because it looks like the kid may be an innocent victim of Larkin doesn't make it so. It wouldn't be the first time the other side has planted innocent-looking people that have come back to bite us."_

"Major, the target has arrived," The agent next to him said, interrupting his thoughts. Casey looked up and watched Chuck Bartowski exit his car and walk towards the office.

"Any sign of the CIA skirt?" Casey asked.

"No." the agent said.

Casey grunted, considering. Normally, he would have directed his team to move in and grab the target now, while he was in the parking lot. Once he got into the office, it would make things more complicated. However, this was not a normal situation.

Casey was well aware of the record of the CIA operative that had been sent to investigate the target. And even though his team didn't see her, he was sure that Sarah Walker was out there, watching. He had no desire to go up against her without being exactly sure where she was and what her plans were.

She may be a CIA skirt, but she's a CIA skirt that's smart and tough. Casey thought. He didn't like the CIA or its agents and he had a particularly sore opinion of the CIA's female agents. Part of that was because of the way the CIA used them, part of it was their tendency to rely on mind games but most of it was from a past bad personal experience with a skirt that had since gone to the DEA.

Unlike most of the CIA's female agents, Walker was different. She didn't seem to play nearly the same games that the majority did. In fact, the one time he had encountered her to date, she had helped him out of the embarrassing situation the DEA skirt had tried to get him in. Casey shuddered at what might have happened if a certain photograph had ended up circulated around the community.

In a lot of ways, Walker was a lot like a female version of him. The key difference between them was that she also had a reputation for not being afraid to go against her superiors if needed, something that Casey, as a Marine, couldn't fathom.

In an empty office building nearby, Sarah grinned as she watched Casey and his team through her binoculars. Thanks to her experience in the other time line, she could read his facial expressions rather well. She could tell he was fighting against his usual instincts to order his team to grab Chuck in the Parking Lot. There was no doubt in her mind it was because he was afraid to make a move until he knew where she was.

 _"That's one change that I've been able to cause without getting involved directly."_ She thought. In some ways, her reputation this time around was even fiercer than last time. Part of that was because of the fact that she didn't let herself get used like she had the last time in the beginning of her career.

Like all female agents, Sarah had done her share of seduction-type missions. Like most female agents of comparable beauty, she'd been forced to allow her targets to get handsy from time to time. Thankfully, she'd was among the majority that had never been required to sacrifice everything for a mission just to get close to some piece of scum.

Also, because she was much more aware of both what she could do and what it took to accomplish missions, she wasn't nearly the wildcard she was last time. Even as a rookie, she handled herself like a veteran agent. It did raise a few eyebrows at first but after any suspicions died down, it caused others to fear her more.

 _"I just hope this works."_ She thought as she pulled out her burner phone and began typing a message on it.

A chirping sound indicating an incoming text message on his phone startled Casey.

 _"What the hell?"_ He thought. It was a new phone specifically for this mission given the sensitivity of it. The only one that had the number was General Beckman and she would never text, only call. Pulling it out of his pocket he read the message.

 _Casey – Glad to see you're taking things cautiously. I've already made contact with your target. All is not what it seems. We need to talk ASAP. Alone. Too sensitive for the rest of your team. Meet me in parking lot at the Large Mart in Burbank at 1500 hours. Don't do anything until we talk. Remember, you owe me for Prague. I'm calling the marker in. Walker_

Casey cursed mentally to himself. _"Of course she would remember Prague."_ He thought. She was right, of course. He did owe her. And Casey didn't like owing anyone. So he would go, if for no other reason than to wipe out the debt. Besides, I have to admit to being a little curious about whatever it is she wants to tell me.

 **Parking Lot**

 **Large Mart**

 **Burbank, CA**

 **September 20, 2007**

 **1445 hours**

"Major, the CIA operative just picked up our target." The voice said in the earwig that Casey was wearing. He had left his team watching Bartowski's office after picking up another car and moving to the meet location. He had arrived a half hour early, determined to not be taken by surprise.

"Roger." He responded. "I'm guessing they're on their way here but, just to be safe, follow at a discreet distance until we know for sure. If they pull in here, go to the rally point and wait for me to contact you."

"Are you sure about this, Major?"

"Not really. But if a five-minute conversation can accomplish our mission, as opposed to having to go up against the Enforcer, I'd rather take the chance. I have do doubt we'd be able to accomplish our mission either way but this way will be a lot less painful." He replied.

After several tense minutes of silence, a voice chirped through the radio. "Major, the targets are turning into the parking lot."

Taking note of the description provided, Casey looked towards the entrance to the shopping center and saw the car. From his vantage point he could see two occupants in the car. He watched as it pulled into a spot a few feet away. A moment later, his phone buzzed from another text message.

We're here. Parking Aisle C. Meet us by the shopping cart return. Walker.

Putting her phone back in her pocket, Sarah turned to her nervous companion. She had to smile a bit at his obvious fidgeting.

"Are you sure about this?" Chuck asked. Sarah reached over and took his hand, squeezing it.

"Look, I know we still have a lot to work out between us but you need to trust me on this. I know John Casey. In the long run we'll be better off if we explain everything up front. He'll be suspicious because of how open we're being but it's much better this way. He'll be key in keeping the CIA and NSA from trying to throw you in a bunker." Sarah said. "Like I said, he owes me. I helped him out of a tight spot once before."

"You really think they'd do that?" Chuck asked.

Sarah smiled, half sadly, half happily. While she'd been successful in making changes to Chuck's worldview since she came back in time, the core of who he was had stayed the same. Even now, after working for a private investigator for several years and seeing what he had seen, he still maintained his ingrained optimism about people and groups.

"Yes, Chuck, they would." Sarah said. "Like I explained last night, the CIA and NSA are used to dealing with intelligence assets who are criminals or enemy agents or in some other way have done something to deserve being treated that way. We frequently do deal with people who are caught up in messes other people make but your situation isn't like that."

"What do you mean?" Chuck protested. That's exactly what happened!"

Sarah gave him a wan smile. "Yes, you were inadvertently caught up in this thanks to someone else but you aren't someone who was tricked into aiding bad guys. In situations like yours, they'd usually try to bribe or otherwise blackmail you but you have nothing they can use. Anything else they might do wouldn't end well for them."

"Like what?"

Choosing to ignore the question, knowing Chuck would be furious if she ever hinted at the possibility of threatening Ellie, Morgan, or anyone else in Chuck's life, and not ready to explain just what Orion would do if they tried such a stunt, Sarah pushed on. "The other problem is that you are the Intersect. There isn't a backup. You have everything in your head and it's safe to say no government scientist knows how to get it out just yet."

"But they can, right?"

Nodding, Sarah answered, "I'm positive it can be done. It may just take more time than my boss is comfortable with which is why we're in the situation we are. Because they aren't as sure about you as I am, and the fact that you have every secret in your head, they're going to want to control you. Hell, that's half the reason they sent me. I'm very good at getting people to tell me things and do what I want them to."

Watching Chuck only get more nervous, and knowing they were short on time, Sarah drew on their conversation the night before. "Chuck, I need you to trust me. Yes, I'm came here because of my job but I'm staying because of us, because of my friendship with you. I won't let them use you and throw you away."

"Okay, Sarah, I get it. And I trust you." Chuck said. Taking a deep breath to try to calm himself, he mumbled, just loud enough for her to hear, "Let's do this."

 **Parking Lot**

 **Large Mart**

 **Burbank, CA**

 **September 20, 2007**

 **1500 hours**

"Walker." Casey said in greeting as she and Chuck walked up to where he was standing.

"Casey." Sarah responded. "This is Charles Irving Bartowski. He goes by 'Chuck'." Casey nodded to the obvious computer nerd.

"Alright, Walker, you asked for this meeting. What's so important that you wanted to meet? For that matter, care to explain to me why if you were sent here to recover the data Larkin sent Mr. Bartowski here, he's not in custody already?"

"Because it's not as simple as the higher ups think." Sarah said. "Bryce did send the Intersect to Chuck but, Casey, you saw his file; he's had nothing to do with Bryce or the Intelligence community. We'd have to ask Bryce why he sent it because Chuck doesn't have a clue. Shame he isn't available for us to find out.

"So where's the data?"

Sarah stared directly at Casey, making sure the Marine met her gaze. "Chuck opened the e-mail. He didn't know what it was and looked at it. He saw the pictures without any protection." Sarah said.

"And he's still alive?" Casey glanced at Chuck in shock.

She nodded. "It's more than that. For lack of a better description, when he saw everything, he downloaded everything."

"Are you trying to tell me-"

"The data's in his head. Chuck IS the Intersect."

"Bullshit," Casey said. "The Intersect can't work inside the human mind. It's been tried before and it failed."

"Look Major," Chuck began before he notice a pin on Casey's lapel. His eyelids immediately began to flutter, indicating what Sarah knew was a flash. After a moment, he came out of it. "As I was saying, I don't know why it's working in me. Hell, I'm not even 100% sure it's working like it should. I have no control at the moment over it. I just seem to get these flashes of information. Like just now. Your lapel pin triggered one. I saw your file. There was some mention about a woman you were involved with in Chechnya."

"Big deal." Casey said. "That's not exactly the most secret information around. Hell, Walker could have told you that."

"Oh, yeah? Do you think she knows about the nickname the woman gave you?" Chuck said. "Or your real name?"

"There's no way that's in there." Casey said nervously. Chuck walked closer to him.

"She called you Sugar Bear," Chuck whispered only for Casey's hand to jerk towards the nerd's neck. The only thing that kept his fingers from closing around Chuck's neck was the distinct sound of Walker pulling the hammer back on her weapon. Slowly, he pulled his hand back and stepped away.

While more than a little shaken, Chuck continued, just as softly. "And your real name is Alex. Oddly enough, your last name was redacted, even in the Intersect file."

Casey's eyes widened, albeit only briefly. _Holy shit. It actually works,_ he thought.

"Ok. So it's in the kid's head." Casey said. "So all we need to do is grab his computer and throw him in a bunker and let the science nerds study him."

"That's not going to work," Sarah said. "First, his computer is fried. It happened when he opened the email. Second, it appears that he has to be stimulated by something for the data in his head to be see; like with your pin. And finally, because I won't let you put him in a bunker."

Before Casey could respond to Sarah, both agents noticed Chuck go through another convulsion.

"Uh, guys." Chuck said after a moment, his voice lower than it had been before. "That guy, the one that just came out of the Large Mart, walking towards the green SUV. He's in the Intersect!" Both agents tensed at Chuck's claim. "That's Vuc Andric, he's a Serbian demolitions expert that Interpol has been looking for."

Casey and Sarah turned just in time to see the man Chuck was talking about get into the SUV and drive off a moment later.

 **Sarah Walker's Hotel Room**

 **Maison23**

 **Los Angeles, California**

 **September 20, 2007**

 **1900 hours**

"So Agent Walker. You're telling us that Mr. Bartowski IS the Intersect?" General Beckman asked. Sarah and Casey were sitting at the table in her room, staring at the laptop computer screen. On the left of the screen sat Deputy Director Graham and on the right was General Beckman. After Chuck's flash on Andric, Casey had ordered his team to pursue the Serbian terrorist but they had lost him near downtown. At that point Sarah and Casey decided it was time to inform their bosses of the situation.

"Yes ma'am." Sarah replied.

"In that case it's all the more important we bring him in," Graham declared.

"Will all due respect, ma'am, sir, I don't think that's the right way to handle this," Sarah offered. Casey tried to catch her eye, asking if she thought she was crazy for directly opposing a stated order.

Beckman's eyes narrowed slightly. "And what is that?"

"Ma'am, I've worked with agents, assets and marks of all kinds. If Director Graham has shared even a tenth of what's in my file, you'd know that. If we want his cooperation, we aren't going to be able to force it."

"Explain, Sarah," Graham ordered.

Squaring her shoulders, Sarah prepared herself for the moment of truth. "He isn't like the people we usually find in this life. He values friends, family and doing what's right. He also values the life he forged for himself with his sister. If we take any of that away from him, he'll either rebel or shut down and be useless. Most of all, he looks for the best in people."

Beckman gave Sarah a pointed look. "You sound awfully taken with Mr. Bartowski, Agent Walker."

"General, I've spent almost the entirety of the last twenty-four hours in his presence. I can tell you with absolute certainty; he is the kind of person that we aspire to protect, why we do what we do. It's refreshing to actually meet someone like him that makes me feel like the last decade of my life was worth it."

Before Beckman could grill Sarah any further, Graham cut in. "So how do you recommend we handle him?" She was grateful for the interruption. Graham had generally trusted her judgment even when Sarah was actively working against him. She knew she couldn't trust him to keep his word regarding Chuck but he'd just provided the opening she needed to start convincing Beckman to treat her Chuck as he deserved.

"We don't treat him like a mark or an asset. We treat him as a man with a valuable skill that we want to recruit. Appeal to more than his sense of right and wrong. We could try his sense of patriotism but I get the feeling he's not enough like Casey here for that to work."

"He's not like me at all," Casey grumbled only for Sarah to shoot him a look that made him second-guess speaking out.

Beckham eyed her agent before returning her gaze to Sarah. "So you're recommending we treat him like a prospective agent?"

"More like a prospective analyst," Sarah clarified. "We don't know enough about how the Intersect works inside him and it'll take more than one day to know how best to motivate him but I feel we'd be making a grave mistake if we ignored the potential he represents."

"Then why not just fly him here and put him under the microscope?" Graham asked. "We could pay him for his time but you seem to be implying something different."

"Two reasons. First, given what he is, the circle that knows about him should be as small as possible for obvious reasons." Neither Beckman nor Graham indicated agreement but Sarah knew they understood. "Second, we have a golden opportunity before us."

Striking a few keys, she brought up the Interpol dossier on Andric. "With barely a glance, he was able to identify a potential terrorist and give us a small amount of actionable intel. We could change the parameters of this operation to see what help he can be in handling Andric. Think of it as a test run for a support position."

The two bosses exchanged a glance. Sarah barely caught Graham's slight acquiescence but it made her want to breathe a sigh of relief.

"I don't like this, Agent Walker," Beckman noted. "If there is any danger, you extract him and bring Mr. Bartowski here whether he likes it or not. I'll give you this chance for him to prove his worth." Sarah bristled at the wording but kept her silence.

"If there isn't anything else, agents-" Beckman began when she was interrupted by a chirp on Casey's phone. Casey looked at it.

"Sorry General, that's the detail that we have babysitting Mr. Bartowski. Apparently he's demanding to see us. Say's it's important. Something about something he saw on the news."

"General, this could be important," Sarah exclaimed. "We know he has the ability to retrieve data when he sees something that triggers the Intersect."

"Send him in," Graham said. Casey tapped a few keys on his phone. A few moments later, the door to the room opened and an NSA agent ushered Chuck in.

"Guys, I know why Andric's here. General Stanfield - I saw him on the news - there's a bomb. He's going to try and kill Stanfield." Chuck said hurriedly.

Sarah tried to fight the smirk on her lips. She really did.

 **Lobby**

 **Hyatt Regency Hotel**

 **Los Angeles, California**

 **September 20, 2007**

 **2000 hours**

Chuck, Casey, and Sarah ran into the hotel lobby. Suddenly Casey stopped and held Chuck.

"Wait Walker. We can't take him in there. He's too valuable and you know our orders," Casey said. "Tell us where to go."

"The easiest way?" Chuck asked.

"No, the fastest," Casey demanded, missing the small grin on Sarah's face since she knew what was about to happen.

"The fastest. Right," Chuck said, then took off. "Follow me." Casey and Sarah exchanged looks before taking off after him.

"Here we go again," Sarah chuckled to herself as she watched Chuck run through the fountain on his way to the hotel's banquet room.

Five minutes later the trio entered the banquet room. On the stage, General Stanfield was giving the same speech he had been giving in the last time line.

"Where's the bomb?" Casey asked. Sarah spotted the serving cart a moment before Chuck spoke.

"There!" he pointed and took off towards it. A moment later the trio had removed the covering, exposing the bomb.

"Oh, God," Sarah said.

"Ideas?"

"Disconnect the laptop?" Sarah suggested.

"There's an auto trigger," Casey responded. "The cables?"

"No, definitely a trap."

A member of the General's security detail came up to them. Casey showed his credentials and spoke the agent briefly. After a minute, the agent signalled the rest of the detail, who began evacuating the room.

"Chuck is there anything else you remember about the bomb?" Sarah asked. Before Chuck could respond, his phone started ringing. He took it out and looked at the caller ID.

 _"Morgan,"_ he thought. His best friend had been calling him a lot today, being bored since his computer wasn't working thanks his predilection for less than clean porn sites. The virus his computer had contracted even managed to overload and burnout certain computers like the one sitting before him. "Wait. That's it," Chuck said out loud, kneeling before the bomb.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Casey asked as he grabbed ahold of Chuck's arm.

"Casey, this is a Prism Express laptop. Every model of theirs has a DOS override. I've exploited it more than a few times when snooping for our clients at the firm." Chuck said. "I can do this." Casey and Sarah exchanged looks only for her to nod at the Marine.

"It's our best shot." Sarah said. A half second later, Casey grunted his agreement. Chuck began typing on the computer, bringing up the command prompt.

"What the hell is he doing?" Casey asked. Chuck made shushing motion at Casey. A series of commands later and the computer making a harsh sound. Seconds later, smoke started pouring from the vents. The screen glitched out before everything shut down.

"You did it!" Sarah exclaimed happily. Things were working out better than she had imagined they would.

"I did it! I defused a real bomb." Chuck said, the paled. "What if I'd been wrong?"

"What the hell did you do?" Casey asked, looking for an explanation.

Still in shock, Chuck started rambling. "Well, I tried using the command prompt to force a shutdown but those commands had been disabled somehow. I'd be interested in knowing exactly how he did that. Anyway, when that didn't work, I tried to remove the drivers that controlled the connection to the bomb through the-"

"Less nerd-speak," Casey interrupted with a growl.

"The first half dozen things I tried didn't work so I connected to the hotel WiFi and downloaded a particularly nasty virus known for trashing whole systems."

"Where the hell do you just find one of those?"

"Porn sites."

Casey stared at the pale man. Shaking his head and refusing to ask just how Chuck knew that such sites contained such viruses, he patted Chuck's shoulder before offering a bit of wisdom.

"Don't puke on the C4."


	9. Chapter 9

**_Author's Note:_** _Thanks to everyone for all the great reviews. To address a couple of items that were brought up by various reviewers:_

 _Sarah convincing Beckman/Graham to treat Chuck as an analyst in training_ _– Yes, due to Sarah's memories from the other timeline, she is well-aware that Chuck is capable of more than just being an analyst. But keep in mind, at this point, Beckman/Graham/Casey are not aware. It would be VERY difficult for Sarah to convince them to treat him as an agent-in-training, even given that fact that in this timeline, Chuck is further along in his development than in the previous one. Sarah's decision to sell Chuck as an analyst-in-training was not because she is trying to hold him back; it was her realization that she can't move too far too fast with regards to Chuck's relationship with the CIA/NSA. As far as him being able to defend himself, remember also that this Chuck has been studying martial arts for almost five years by this point. While he is not to the level of a trained agent, he's also not the hapless/helpless nerd from the other timeline either. And Sarah will be supplementing his training eventually._

 _Concern that Sarah just has to show Chuck a photo of Zarnow and the game will be up_ _– That is a legitimate concern; and would make the events of Chuck vs Helicopter much shorter. But two points to make about this: 1) It is not my intention to necessarily go episode by episode with this story; I'm not entirely sure I have it in me to go that far and in depth; so future chapters may be a combination of episodes. 2) Remember, just because Sarah_ _knows_ _something, she still needs to find a way to implement what she knows in a way that won't raise a red flag with her superiors. So just flat out showing Chuck a photo, when it was clear that Zarnow was NOT to see Chuck and vice-versa in the show, could be problematic. So if she was to go that route, she'd have to get creative in order to explain why she did it. So just keep reading the story; hopefully you'll like what I have cooked up._

 **Chapter 8**

 **Sarah Walker's Hotel Room**

 **Maison23**

 **Los Angeles, California**

 **September 20, 2007**

 **2200 hours**

"Excellent work, Agent Walker, Major Casey." General Diane Beckman said over the video conference. After the team had finished up at the hotel and had handed the scene over to the FBI, Sarah, Casey, and Chuck had returned to Sarah's hotel for a debriefing with Beckman and Graham.

"Thank you ma'am." Sarah and Casey said.

"With respect, General, it wouldn't have turned out the way it did without Mr. Bartowski's help." Casey said. "While his method was rather – unorthodox – I doubt Agent Walker or I could have defused the bomb in enough time without it." At Casey's words, General Beckman's eyebrows rose slightly. She had known Major Casey for nearly ten years, and it was very unusual for him to offer words of praise for a civilian or an asset.

"Yes, Mr. Bartowski. We are in your debt." Beckman said, though it was clear she was uncomfortable saying so. "However, I must point out that what you did was reckless and could have ended in disaster." Graham snorted.

"Disaster? I think your understating it, Diane." He said, sneering. "Young man, you are currently carrying around ALL our secrets and intelligence in your head. If you had been killed, the damage would have been incalculable. "He paused for a moment before continuing. "In light of seriousness of this situation, and your reckless actions, I'm not sure we would be better off scraping Agent Walker's suggestion and putting you in a bunker." Chuck's eyes shot wide in alarm. He was attempting to formulate an intelligent response, but words were failing him at the moment.

"With respect Director, that would be a big mistake." Sarah said, determinedly.

"Excuse me?" Graham growled.

"Sir, while Chuck's actions were reckless, you have to remember that this is new to him. His entire life has been turned upside down in less than forty-eight hours, through no fault of his own. And while it was reckless, it also showed that he has a great deal of courage and resourcefulness." Sarah plowed on. "I agree we need to make sure he doesn't take anymore reckless chances, but Casey and I can handle that. He just needs some training in basic protocols. He shouldn't be punished for doing the right thing just because he's been un-intentionally sucked into this situation. Issues of morality and legality, or the effectiveness of the Intersect if forced into a bunker aside, yanking him out of his life and throwing him into a hole would be disastrous for us."

"How so, Agent Walker?" Beckman asked

"General, you've read his file, I assume?" Sarah asked. At Beckman's nod, she continued. "Then you know that he's a key part of Burbank Investigative Services. And BIS has numerous high-profile, wealthy, and politically connected clients. Imagine what would happen if he were to suddenly disappear. His boss would certainly make inquiries, and not just through the police. From what I learned preparing for this assignment, there are a number of BIS clients that would also lend their resources to finding answers. And then there's his sister. The one who practically raised him after their parents disappeared. Who also happens to be one of the top physicians in Los Angeles? And more importantly is dating Devon Woodcomb, who besides being a top heart surgeon is also the only child of Dr. Woody Woodcomb? His father was college roomates with Senator Thomas Stone, Ranking Member of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee? Even if they never figure out what happened or connect it to the CIA/NSA, they'll raise such a stink that the publicity alone will likely tip Fulcrum off to the fact that he's someone of interest. And if Fulcrum has infiltrated the government even only half-as-much as we suspect, they'll stop at nothing to find him."

"Major Casey, your assessment?" General Beckman asked. Graham remained silent, clearly not happy with Sarah's words.

"Ma'am, I'm not as confident in our ability to train Mr. Bartowski as Agent Walker is." He said. Seeing Sarah's eyes turn cold toward him, he hurried on. "But she's right; treating him like every other asset ignores the unique circumstances that caused him to become an asset. And lord knows we don't need the headache that plucking him out of Los Angeles would cause. I agree that the bunker should stay on the table as a backup though, should it become necessary.

"Director Graham and I will have to discuss this. For now, we continue as we discussed last night." General Beckman said, than killed the videoconference.

"Agent Walker, please contact me tomorrow at 0900. We need to discuss some things." Graham growled, killing his link.

"I hope you know what you're doing Walker." Casey said.

"Trust me, Casey. I've got it covered." Sarah said. _"Looks like I'm going to have to move my timeline forward where Graham is concerned, if I can't calm him down."_ Sarah thought.

 **Playa Del Raya Beach**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **September 21, 2007**

 **0100 hours**

Chuck sat on the sand, listening as the waves crashed into shore and looking at the moon hanging in the sky, replaying the events of the last two days in his head, and tried to center himself using the breathing techniques Master Kearse had taught him.

His feelings over the situation were running a wide gambit. He had been and still was, thrilled to have finally met his best friend (excepting Morgan) in person. Add the fact that Sarah was gorgeous and that on their date the two had clearly had a deep connection, and he knew that he would not be able to go back to being just online friends. He had felt something on that date that he hadn't felt with any other woman he had dated – he could easily see himself falling helplessly in love – if he hadn't already.

On the other end of the spectrum, he was feeling nervous, scared, angry, confused, and irritated. He had been at the height of emotional happiness two days ago, only for it to come crashing down the same night. Maybe crashing was overstating it. But finding out that the reason Sarah was in Los Angeles was because his douche-bag ex-roommate and ex-friend had sent him an e-mail with highly classified information in it was a definite mood killer if ever there was one. Though he understood the situation that Sarah was in, he still couldn't help but feel a little betrayed over her initial lying approach to him.

True, he had appreciated her belated honesty to him concerning who she was and what she was doing there. And based on what she had said and the subtle touches she gave him, he was pretty sure that she was being honest about caring for him and wanting to make sure he wasn't ground under by the CIA/NSA bureaucracy.

 _"_ _Are you sure about that?"_ a little voice said in his head. _"After all, she told you herself that she's good a getting close to people to get what the CIA wants. How do you know this isn't what she's doing now?"_

That thought gave him a brief pause. How did he know? Was it possible she was just manipulating him? After a moment of thought, he shook his head and cleared the idea from his head. He was not naïve; he knew that practically everyone in life in some way or another manipulated others. His last few years working for a private investigator had shown him that. Most people didn't even consciously realize they were doing it. And for the right reasons, in the right way, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. So he could easily believe that Sarah might be manipulating him in some way. But the idea that she was manipulating him against his best interests was something he could not envision. After all, they had come in contact with one another when both were still in high school and had been online friends for years.

More importantly, everything that Sarah had told him since that night seemed to be true. And Sarah had stood up to Director Graham and General Beckman for him during the debriefing. And while he was sure anyone working for the CIA or NSA was good at acting, there was something in the eyes of both Graham and Beckman that told Chuck that they were genuinely surprised and a little angry that she had done so.

All of this led him to the conclusion that Sarah DID care for him, that she was his friend. And that the hints she had dropped over the last two days did indeed point to the fact that perhaps she was interested in him as more than a friend, as he was in her. And that he could trust her.

"Penny for you thoughts?" Sarah's voice asked from behind him. Chuck turned slightly and smiled when he saw her.

"How long have you been there?"

"Since right after you got here." Sarah said, sitting down next to him. "I've been watching from the parking lot for the last two hours."

"Why didn't you come over sooner?" he asked.

"You looked like you needed some time to think on your own." Sarah said. "I know what that's like; and I also know when I get like that, I don't want to be around anyone." Chuck nodded. It was true; as much as he was a social animal and craved human interaction in general, he had not been in the mood to talk when he first got here.

"Thanks Sarah." He said.

"No problem." Sarah said.

"I'm not just talking about giving me my space to think." Chuck said, turning to her. "Though I do appreciate that too. Thank you for coming out to Los Angeles to help me. Thank you for telling me the truth the night of our date. Thank you for trying to protect me and make things easier for me with the CIA and NSA. But most of all, thank you for standing up for me with your bosses. I know it couldn't have been easy. I'm not sure if our positions were reversed, I'd be brave enough to do it."

"Chuck, I think you're braver than you think." Sarah said. "After all, not many people would willingly run toward a bomb, then try to defuse it with porn."

"If you say so." Chuck said. "I personally don't think it was brave, I was scared to death the whole time. And Graham and Beckman were right, it was reckless."

"Chuck, like I told you years ago after you go beat up trying to defend Morgan; bravery isn't the absence of fear. Nobody who's sane and intelligent doesn't experience fear; we all do, including Casey and I. It's what we do with fear, how we confront it, which makes us brave. And you were definitely brave tonight. And I have no doubt, if it came down to it, you would be just as brave if needed to protect Ellie, or your co-workers, or me or even Casey. It's who you are Chuck, you care about people, and about what's right and wrong."

"So what now?" he asked.

"Well, we won't know for sure until I talk to Graham tomorrow and we hear from both Graham and Beckman after they 'discuss' things, but for now, we proceed like we planned. Casey and I will stay here to protect you and train you as an analyst. Although, I think given the circumstances, we should probably through in some basic field training as well, just in case. Even if you don't rush into danger there's no guarantee that we'll be able to keep you out of it entirely."

"How are we going to explain you and Casey to everyone?" Chuck asked. "After all, my boss thinks you're a client. And he doesn't know Casey. What do we tell Ellie and Devon?"

"Don't worry about it Chuck." Sarah said. "We don't have to do anything just yet. If things go the way we want tomorrow, then we can move on to establishing the cover for the operation."

"And that cover is?"

"We're going to go with the idea of hiding in plain sight and partial admissions. In the next day or two we'll provide you with evidence that the 'friend' I hired you to find was really a con artist with ties to a major internet crime ring. When you call me in to give me the news, I'm going to reveal that I'm actually a representative from a small firm contracted by various government law enforcement agencies to help test and beef up government systems." Sarah said. "We're going to tell your boss that your name came to our attention as a possible recruit. Casey will be there acting as our FBI liaison. We're going to make you a job offer. We'll get a small office set up to work out of as a part of the cover."

"Ok. So that answers what to do about the job." Chuck said. "What about us? Ellie knows that we had a date the other night. She knows that you're the girl I've been friends with online since I was 15. How do we explain all this and deal with that?"

"It's not a problem." Sarah said. "We continue on with the truth. Yes, we have been online friends for years but neither of us knew the identity of the other. It was just dumb luck that we crossed paths like we did. We'll keep dating and posing as boyfriend/girlfriend. It will make it easier to explain my presence outside of work hours."

"Oh, ok. So the whole dating thing is just going to be a cover?" Chuck asked. Sarah looked at Chuck and instantly regretted her words.

 _"_ _Dammit."_ She thought, chiding herself. _"Stupid, Walker. Stupid."_

"Chuck, I didn't mean it the way it sounded." Sarah said. "Yes, us dating will be a great cover and make things involving the job easier. And yes, the bosses will go with the cover because they'll see it as a good way to keep control over you. But Chuck, that's not why I suggested it, I swear. I did it because you've been a great friend over the years and I care about what happens to you. Like I said the other night, I've had a crush on you ever since we started talking online. And although my bosses would not be happy if they found out, I really would like to try this for real." Chuck smiled.

"Ok." He said, unsure what to say next.

"But Chuck, you need to understand. I wasn't kidding when I said the bosses wouldn't be happy if they found out. They'll see it as a disadvantage to have an Agent who has a personal attachment to her assignment. So we're going to have to be really careful, at least for a little while. Even around Casey." Sarah warned. "So we're going to have to convince them that we're just going through the motions for the cover. Even though to us, it's going to be real."

"Sounds like this can get – complicated." Chuck said, grinning slightly.

"Two more things, Chuck. First, for the sake of the cover, we're going to have to do things and act like we're doing things that we may not be ready for real relationship-wise. I know it'll be uncomfortable for you; hell it'll be uncomfortable for me too. But we'll have to deal with it." Sarah said. "Second, I wasn't kidding when I said what you did tonight was brave. But I also wasn't kidding when I said it was reckless. This is non-negotiable Chuck. You are now literally as important as the President of the United States, maybe more so. Part of my job is keeping you alive. So, no more stunts like that without talking to me first."

"You got it Sarah." Chuck said.

 **Bus Terminal**

 **Los Angeles, California**

 **September 21, 2007**

 **0630 hours**

Sarah walked into the Women's Restroom at the Los Angeles Bus Terminal. After checking all the stalls and determining that there was no one else there, she took a secure burner phone out of her pocket. She had retrieved the phone from the locker at a 24-hour health club, where she had stashed it when she first got to Los Angeles. After using her bug scanner to verify that there was no tracking or listening devices on her clothes or in the restroom, she dialed a number from memory. After several rings, someone picked up on the other end.

"Hello?" a groggy female voice answered.

"Czerwony, to blondynka. Czarny król staje się problemem. Musimy podnieść harmonogram. Kod trzy."[1] Sarah said in Polish. The voice on the other end was silent for a moment.

"Cholera blondynka. Czy ja nawet chcę wiedzieć, co zrobił, żeby ci się udało? W porządku, jeśli jesteś pewna, zadzwonię do suki i ruszę się. Jak szybko?"[2] the voice said.

"Chyba, że za kilka godzin usłyszysz ode mnie inaczej, chcę, aby ogień działał gotowy do końca pod koniec tygodnia." Sarah replied. A moment later she hung up.[3]

 **Somewhere in Mexico…**

 **September 21, 2007**

 **0730 hours**

Zondra Rizzo hung up the phone and whistled softly. To be honest, she had never really expected to get the call from Carina. When Sarah had approached her and Zondra shortly after the last CAT squad mission with her plan, she had been shocked to say the least. First, because Sarah had never given any indication of being anything other than Graham's loyal soldier, at least to her. Second, because the information she shared with her and Carina about Graham's more questionable orders and activities was unlike anything she had ever seen.

She wasn't stupid; she knew that sometimes operations of a questionable nature occurred and that sometimes personal agendas were pursued. But what Graham had been doing went way beyond that. So she had agreed to go along with Sarah. Truth be told, even if she hadn't been disgusted by what Graham had been doing, she would have still done with Sarah had asked. She and Carina were her best friends, maybe her only real friends for that matter. And she owed Sarah for uncovering Amy as the mole in their team. For a few brief hours, it looked as though Zondra herself would end up taking the fall for the leaks to Augusto Gaez.

But when first a year, then two had passed without Carina calling her with one of the pre-arranged code phrases, she assumed that either the conditions that Sarah had feared hadn't come to pass or that she had changed her mind. Several times she had considered wiping the computer storage device Sarah had given her, but had held of just in case. And that had paid off tonight.

 _"_ _This is going cause an epic investigation."_ Zondra thought. _"Hopefully it works out like Sarah has planned. Otherwise, we may all end up in jail, or worse."_

* * *

[1] "Red, its blondie. The black king is becoming a problem. We need to move up the timetable. Code three."

[2] "Damn blondie. Do I even want to know what he did to get you this worked up? Alright, if you are sure, I'll call the bitch and get her moving. How soon?"

[3] "Unless you hear differently from me in a couple hours, I want the fireworks ready to go by the end of the week."


	10. Chapter 10

**_Author's Note:_** _And we're back. Sorry for the delay in this latest chapter._

 _I would like to dedicate it to the memory of the fifteen US Marines and one US Navy Corpsman killed in the tragic crash of the KC-130 they were traveling in. Semper Fi and Fair Winds & Follow Seas. Rest in Peace._

 **Chapter 9**

 **Sarah Walker's Hotel Room**

 **Maison23**

 **Los Angeles, California**

 **September 21, 2007**

 **0905 hours**

Sarah was desperately trying to control her temper as she listed to Graham berate her for her actions the night before, especially her "unprofessional and borderline insubordinate" behavior during the debriefing. In her past life, she would have been mortified and panicked at the thought of the words Graham was using. But not now. She was not the wide-eyed naïve teenager who had clung to the CIA and to her mentor like a scared kitten this time around. This time she was well aware that what Graham had wanted to do was illegal and unethical. She was also aware that according to the law, and the civil service regulations that governed personnel of the CIA, that she had done nothing wrong in her actions. It was true that this didn't always provide protection, especially from snakes like Graham who had a history of skirting around rules when they wanted to, but Sarah wasn't too worried. Yes, he'd be able to make trouble for her, but ultimately, she was more of a danger to him than the other way around. And thanks to the message she had sent late last night, it would hopefully only be a short time before he learned that the hard way. All she needed to do was string him along for a little while longer.

"Are you listening, Agent Walker?" Graham inquired.

"Yes sir." She replied.

"Well what do you have to say for yourself?!" he demanded.

"Sir, you know me. I'm very good at getting assets to do what we want them to do. Everything I said last night is true. This asset is very different from the ones we're used to utilizing. My usual approach wasn't working; the only way to ensure his cooperation was to make him think I was on his side with this. I apologize for the tone I used last night, and for not being able to bring you in on my plan, but there was simply no time. This asset, while naïve and trusting, also has a very honed sense of loyalty; if I had hesitated even a second, he would have doubted me." Sarah said, feeling sick as she said the words. Until Carina and Zondra had fully implemented the emergency play, she had to try and placate Graham, as much as she hated it. "Additionally, what I told you last night is true; if the asset was to suddenly disappear, with or without evidence of death, it would cause us a lot of heartache; he's too well known in the LA area due to his employment by his firm's clients – many of whom are wealthy and have connections – and his sister's fiancée and family, with their political connections, would ensure a lot of questions being asked. We'd probably be able to work out from under the scrutiny, but it would take time and resources. Better to string him along thinking we're on his side while we come up with a full-proof plan to make him disappear if necessary."

"So you're saying your little performance last night was for show?" Graham said, calmed down somewhat, but not completely.

"Yes sir." Sarah said.

"What about Casey? Was he in on the plan?" Graham asked.

"No sir." Sarah replied. "I was as surprised as you were at his stance. I can only surmise that he had come to a similar conclusion to what I had and was trying to position himself and the NSA as friends to the asset. I suspect at some point they will try and convince the asset that the CIA and I are the bad guys and try to pull him away from us. We need to be ready for that."

"Ok, Agent Walker, I'll forgive your outburst last night – this time. What you've said makes sense. I want you to start developing a plan to extract the asset from his life in LA – and the NSA – for when we need to use it. In the meantime, continue what you're doing to get the asset to trust you, and for Casey to think he's pulled the wool over your eyes."

"Yes sir." Sarah said, then decided to take a chance. "Sir, the asset does appear to be interested in me in a romantic sense. I think I can use that to further our goal, with your permission."

"Why do you need my permission?" Graham said. "I know you've used the honey-trap before. But I thought you said traditional methods wouldn't work?"

"You misunderstand sir. I'm not talking about my traditional methods. In the past I've been able to string targets along with the promise of sex. This asset is different. Everything I've seen tells me that he would not fall for that. He's had numerous opportunities over the years with women throwing themselves at him; in fact, several of his firm's female clients have been very forward in their attempts. He's brushed them aside. He is simply not interested in a purely meaningless physical fling." Sarah answered. "In order make this work, I have to convince him that I have feelings for him. Real, romantic feelings that could lead to a permanent relationship. That means I'm going to have to go slow and act like a woman falling in love and all that it entails."

"I see." Graham said, thinking silently for a moment. "Very well, Agent Walker. You have my permission to proceed as you have indicated. You've never let me down before."

"Thank you sir." Sarah said. "I think it would be best if we kept this between the two of us for now. If you were to let General Beckman know, she would probably try to use it against me with the asset. The same goes for Major Casey. At the same time, however, if they think I'm really falling for him, they will still try to cause trouble."

"Don't worry about that." Graham said. "I'll place a letter in your file immediately that should cover you if it comes to that." A moment later the screen went blank as Graham signed off.

Sarah turned from the video screen and walked into her bathroom, careful to keep her features neutral. Once she was inside, with the door closed, safe from any unknown surveillance, she grinned. _"Graham, you stupid son of a bitch! How the hell did you get to where you are? And how the hell did I let you so fully manipulate me so easily last time?"_ she thought to herself. This was going to be too easy.

 **Office of the National Security Advisor**

 **White House**

 **Washington, D.C.**

 **September 21, 2007**

 **1100 hours**

The President's National Security Advisor threw down the folder he had been reading in disgust. The packet it had come in had been delivered to him by an old friend earlier that morning, with the entreaty that he review it immediately. He had told him that the information had come from a source that he trusted implicitly and had the potential to cause a grave scandal if ever released to the public. It was not the first time in his thirty years of government service he had been faced with such a problem. The typical response was to find a way to hush things up, and then quietly and discreetly remove the problem. But that thought brought him up short.

 _"Shit. We can't do that this time."_ He thought. _"That's exactly the kind of thing that's brought us to this."_ To be fair, that wasn't entirely the truth; true the penchant for Graham (and others) for taking the convenient way out of getting rid of problems rather than the proper way was a large part of it – people within the intelligence community had gotten entirely too used to operating that way. But at least, for the most part, many of those cases at least had the fact that the problems being removed were legitimate threats to the safety and security of the United States and its way of life. But the information in this file made it very clear that in Graham's case, the majority of his activities were not even remotely justified, though he had forged many documents to claim they were.

Then there was the fact that his friend had made it clear that the agents that had brought this data to his attention were among the best and most senior in the intelligence community; they could not be easily dissuaded to keep their mouths shut, nor could the country afford to have them sidelined to force their silence. Nor would he want to, the more that he thought about it. The intelligence game had always been a balancing act between staying true to the moral and legal ideals of the United States and the need to sometimes violate or bend those rules and ideals for the greater good. The National Security Advisor had always been uncomfortable with that balancing act, aware that it could be abused. And now he was confronted with proof of such abuse in black and white. Taking another minute to steel himself, he lifted the phone.

"Nancy, I need to see the President. Immediately. It's about a very serious matter." He said into it.

 **Office of Carmichael Security Services (aka Castle)**

 **Secure Conference Room**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **October 7, 2007**

 **1000 hours**

"Good Morning, Agent Walker, Agent Casey." Director Graham said, hesitated a moment, then "Mr. Bartowski." Sarah hid a smile at the sound of reluctance in Graham's voice at calling Chuck anything but "the asset" or "the Intersect," not to mention the overall plan that had been implemented over the last couple of weeks. But Casey's support had helped in getting General Beckman's support and Sarah's wholly untruthful apology and explanation to Graham the morning following the attempted assassination of General Stanfield, had caused Graham to very reluctantly agree.

And so, in the weeks since that night, they had carried out Sarah's suggestion for a cover almost to the "T" as evidenced by the small office they now occupied. The best part about it was that this time around, her and Chuck were dating for real – although Graham thought she was merely honey-trapping Chuck and Beckman and Casey thought it was only as a cover. She was amazed at how much easier things had been this time around, with all the angst that had come between them the last time around. All in all, Sarah's plans were working very well.

Carina had informed her, through code that the information packet had been delivered to the appropriate people, thanks to Zondra, and an investigation was well underway. In fact, Sarah had received a back-channel encrypted communication earlier that morning, informing her that an investigative agent would be arriving in Los Angeles the next day to interview her, with the strict admonishment that she was to tell no one, especially Graham of the appointment. Normally she would have been wary of going to a meeting without someone to back her up, but she knew the agent coming to interview her; he was a straight shooter and one of the absolute boy scouts within the intelligence community. That was not to say he wasn't dangerous if you crossed him or you were a traitor or committed a crime.

 _"It's too bad I didn't trust him last time around."_ She thought. In the previous timeline, Sarah had encountered him several times, and it had been clear he was investigating Graham. But, blinded and brainwashed as she had been at the time, she brushed him off. _"I could have saved Chuck and I a lot of heartache if I had just talked to him."_

"Good Morning, General, Director." The three members of what was being referred to as Team Intersect responded.

"Team, we've arranged for an NSA scientist to fly out to Los Angeles to evaluate the possibility of removing the Intersect from Mr. Bartowski. He will be arriving tonight." Beckman said. As she did so, Sarah felt herself tense. She knew this was coming; she had thought about finding a way to expose Dr. Jonas Zarnow, the scientist that they were sending, as the traitor he was, long before this, but had decided against it. First, because she couldn't come up with a good explanation of how she knew he was a traitor that would satisfy Graham or anyone else. Second, because she realized that Beckman needed to see Chuck as a valuable team member as fast and as often as possible, given that Graham's days were numbered. That wasn't to say that she was going to let things play out exactly like they had before, though.

"General, no disrespect, but perhaps we should have Chuck review a picture and some basic personnel data on this scientist? Just in case?" she said. Seeing the General about to leap to the blind defense of the NSA scientist, she added quickly. "I know you trust him, and I'm sure you're right. But how many times over the years has the CIA or NSA been burned by someone we trusted absolutely?" Beckman glared at her a moment longer, then her facial expression relaxed.

"You're correct, Agent Walker." She said, sighing. "As much as I hate to admit it, it's happened too many times. Very well, I'll forward a redacted version of his file to you. Mr. Bartowski, as soon as it arrives, I want to you study it. If you flash on anything, let Agents Walker and Casey know, immediately."

"Yes ma'am." Chuck replied. "Just what kind of testing is this scientist going to do on me? It doesn't involve needles does it? I hate needles." Sarah felt a wave of warmth as she listened to him.

 _"That's my Chuck, brave to a fault when trying to help people, but a baby when it comes to needles."_ She thought fondly. It was one of the best things about the whole situation. Despite all the changes she had managed to make in his life and the confidence she had helped him gain this time around, deep down he was still the same lovable Chuck.

"Not at this time, Mr. Bartowski." Beckman said dryly. "Though at some time in the future, it may come to that."

 **Office of Carmichael Security Services (aka Castle)**

 **Operations Office**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **October 7, 2007**

 **1700 hours**

"What the hell is taking Beckman so long sending that file?" Sarah asked, frustrated. "We're due to meet the scientist in two hours. If we don't get that file soon, we won't have any time to formulate a plan if Chuck finds something?" Casey looked at her.

"Relax, Walker. I'm sure the General will get it to us shortly." He said, amused. This was a side of Walker he was sure rarely broke through her agent persona. "I doubt you're boy-toy is going to find anything anyways. If the General says this scientist is trustworthy, I believe her. Unlike the CIA, the NSA is pretty good at ferreting out traitors within the organization." Sarah ignored both jibes in Casey's words, and mentally cursed herself for letting her emotions show in front of him. While this John Casey was already slightly different than at this point in the previous timeline, they had not yet reached the point where they were friends and she could feel safe in allowing him to see her emotions. Instead, she just returned her gaze reading the daily reports from Langley.

Casey chuckled to himself as he watched Sarah return her attention to her work. Contrary to what many people who met him thought, he wasn't a burnt-out robot and was actually quite observant when it came to people's emotions. As a result, he was well aware that there was something going on with Sarah Walker, and it had to do with Chuck Bartowski. Oh, it was clear that Chuck Bartowski was taken with the CIA agent, not that he could blame him – Sarah Walker was a goddess after all. But it was also clear to Casey that Sarah Walker was easily as taken with Chuck Bartowski. But so far everything that the due had done, minus the rather unorthodox methods on those first two days, had been proper and professional. In fact, Casey had to admit he was impressed with Chuck Bartowski. He didn't think he would make it as a regular agent, but for someone who had been thrown into this life against his will, he had been rather competent so far. He was clearly intelligent, and from what Casey could tell, was very good at what he had done when working for the private investigation firm. That was the reason Casey had gone along with Walker's suggestions for the operation and backed her with Graham and Beckman.

However, he was also aware that Walker and Bartowski were hiding something. Several times over the last few weeks, he had caught comments and looks that spoke of people who knew each other much better than they were letting on – in fact he had noticed it on that first day. And they seemed just a little too good at the boyfriend/girlfriend "cover" that they were using. He had decided to keep an eye on things and confront the two at some point. He didn't intend to report it – yet. For one, he knew that crossing Sarah Walker could be hazardous to one's health. For another, whatever was going on, neither seemed to be letting it get in the way of the mission. And finally, deep down in his heart, the idea that an agent like Walker could possibly have something of a normal life gave him hope of his own.

A beep startled him out of his thoughts. He went over to the closest terminal.

"Looks like the General finally sent the information." He said after a moment. Sarah nodded and got up from her chair and walked into the next office. A moment later she returned, with Chuck following behind her.

"Here's the file that Walker requested." Casey said to Chuck. "Take a look through it and let us know if anything pops." Chuck nodded and sat down in front of the computer. Casey looked at Sarah. "You got this? I want to do an inventory of the armory."

"Yeah, go ahead Casey." Sarah said. Casey walked out of the office. Sarah went over to the small fridge in office and pulled out a bottle of water, then retrieved a bottle of aspirin from the desk and handed them to Chuck. "Just in case." Chuck smiled at her. Over the last couple of weeks they had discovered that, depending on the size of the flash, he often suffered from a headache afterward. As a result, Sarah had made sure to have aspirin readily available in the office and even carried some in her mission kit.

"Thanks." He said, smiling. "How about a kiss before I open this? For luck?" Sarah grinned; since that fateful night of the assassination attempt against General Stanfield, she and Chuck's relationship had progressed nicely. It was as enjoyable as she remembered from the previous timeline, though this time there was the added happiness (too Sarah at least since Chuck didn't have her memories of the old timeline) that there was no enterable period of dancing around each other, and that because of her playing of Graham, Beckman, and Casey, they were able to carry on right in front of the surveillance.

"Of course, Chuck." Sarah said fondly, then leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the lips. Seeing the look of disappointment on his face, said, "You'll get more afterwards." Chuck nodded and turned his attention back to the computer. He typed at the keyboard briefly and the file of one Dr. Jonas Zarnow opened up. He began reviewing the file while Sarah held her breath. About half-way through the file, she saw the tell-tale sign of Chuck flashing, his eyelids fluttering rapidly, his breathing becoming deep and labored. A moment later it passed, and he put his head in his hands, clearly in pain. Sarah opened the bottle of aspirin and pulled two pills from it, then opened the water and handed both to Chuck. Chuck took the pills and popped them in his mouth and took a swig from the bottle of water. After he had swallowed, he placed the bottle down on the desk and turned to Sarah, concern in his face.

"Sarah, get Casey in here." He said. Sarah walked out of the room and returned a moment later with Casey.

"What did you see, Bartowski." Casey said, alert.

"Guys, we've got a problem." Chuck said seriously. "Zarnow is a traitor."

 **Office of Carmichael Security Services (aka Castle)**

 **Operations Office**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **October 7, 2007**

 **1900 hours**

"Agents Walker, Casey. A pleasure to meet you." Dr. Jonas Zarnow said, offering his hand to them. Both agents fought the urge to react with disgust to his presence. After Chuck had flashed and informed them that Zarnow had been providing information to the North Koreans for several years, they had reported it to their superiors, who had wanted them to arrest Zarnow immediately, and in Graham's case, raised the issue of whether it wouldn't be better to put Chuck in a bunker after all. Sarah, with Casey and Chuck's help, had successfully argued that arresting Zarnow right away would be a mistake. As Chuck pointed out, most of the information that he had flashed on was circumstantial and anyone who didn't have the Intersect in their head would be unlikely to come to the same conclusion about Zarnow. Casey had also pointed out that given the recent black eyes in the press both the CIA and NSA had received over the last few years, it would be better to have something concrete. So the decision was made to go through with the testing. They would plant a tracking and listening device on his car and hopefully be able to catch him in the act.

"Welcome, Dr." Sarah said.

"Where's Patient X?" Zarnow asked, looking around the room.

"He's at an alternate site." Casey said. "Because of the sensitive nature of things, it's better if you didn't know his identity. You can use this computer to upload the images and communicate with him. Of course his voice is going to be disguised through a voice modulator."

Unlike last time, Sarah was able to catch the very quick and slight look of annoyance and anger that crossed Zarnow's face. _"If you're angry now, just wait until later, you traitorous bastard."_ Sarah said to herself. Knowing that Zarnow would be unable to resist trying to get information on who had the Intersect in his head, Sarah had decided to advance the timeline of events this time around. She would ensure she walked the doctor to his car. Along the way she would "accidently" let slip that she knew who the Intersect was, which would hopefully cause Zarnow to move faster than last time. That would give them the proof they needed. As an added bonus, she would make sure that the altercation took place near the office where Chuck was sitting (the statement that he was in another location being bogus). She knew when he heard the struggle he would come out to help her, and because of his martial arts training, and rudimentary training he had gotten from her and Casey so far, she knew he would be able to handle himself. Especially since she had no intention of letting Zarnow get the upper hand – she would be faking the whole thing.

Her reason for taking this chance was two-fold. One, it would give Chuck more confidence in his developing spy skills. And two, and perhaps most importantly, the whole thing would be caught by the surveillance, so there would be recorded proof not only of Zarnow's treason, but also of Chuck's abilities. Hopefully that would help with getting Beckman to more quickly begin looking at Chuck as a valuable team member, and not just an asset.

For the next hour, Dr. Zarnow tested Chuck, sending hundreds of images through the computer station. As Sarah expected from the last time, Chuck had perfect recall of the data and it was obvious that Zarnow was impressed.

 **Office of Carmichael Security Services (aka Castle)**

 **Main hallway**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **October 7, 2007**

 **2000 hours**

"That was absolutely incredible." Dr. Zarnow said to Sarah as the two walked towards the front door. "Patient X had 100% perfect recall. Are you sure I can't meet him?"

"I'm sorry, Doctor. His identity needs to be a secret from everyone, for now." Sarah said.

"Such a shame. Based on his recall ability, I'd have to say he was probably very intelligent even without the Intersect. Please pass along my admiration."

 _"Here we go."_ Sarah thought as they approached the office where Chuck was. "I'll be sure to tell him the next time I see him." It took only a second for her meaning to sink in. In a flash, Zarnow had pulled a tranq gun from under his coat and brought it around to fire at her. Sarah moved to the side, avoiding the first dart, before knocking it to the ground. Soon, the two were engaged in a violent struggle. In truth, Sarah could probably have ended things fairly quickly, despite the surprising skill the middle-aged scientist was showing at hand-to-hand combat. But that would defeat the second part of her plan. So she allowed her opponent to land some blows that she normally would have blocked. _"C'mon Chuck, be the hero that you are."_

 **Office of Carmichael Security Services (aka Castle)**

 **Spare Office**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **October 7, 2007**

 **2005 hours**

Chuck's hackles were raised when he heard the first sounds of commotion in the hall. It very clearly sounded like a fight had broken out, which meant that something must have gone wrong with the team's plan. For some reason Zarnow must have decided that he had been compromised or perhaps that he could kidnap Casey or Sarah to get them to reveal his identity. He sat, undecided for a moment. He had an emergency beacon in his pocket; once he pressed it, it would alert Casey and Sarah, and whichever one wasn't currently engaged in the brawl in the hallway would come running, and it would also alert a rapid response team from the local FBI field office. He knew that he should do it, then stay in the room; going out in the hall would potentially blow his cover and endanger his life, and the safety of the Intersect. And he had promised Sarah that he would not be reckless like he was the other night during the assassination attempt on General Stanfield.

The problem was that staying hidden went against everything that Chuck believed in. Casey and Sarah were his partners; ignoring the romantic entanglement that he and Sarah were in, he liked and respected both of them as agents. And he had always tried to stand up and help people when he could. It was why he went to work in private investigations; it was why he continued with his martial arts studies even after high school, and it was why despite being dragged into the world of intelligence against his will, he had been giving his new job 120%. That, plus the thought that it could possibly be Sarah out in the hall in danger, meant that he would not do what was smart. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled the beacon out and pressed it. Then he threw it on the desk and made his way to the door.

When he got to the door, he opened it carefully and peaked out in the hall. He saw that his concern had been justified; Sarah and Dr. Zarnow were currently engaged in hand-to-hand combat. He watched for a second in awe – both of them were much more proficient then he was. In fact, he had just come to the conclusion that it might be better to let Sarah and Casey handle it; there was no way he could take Zarnow; when Zarnow landed a lucky blow on Sarah and sent her sprawling. Horror registered on Chuck's face as he watched Zarnow bend over and pick up a gun from the floor.

 _"Shit. Shit. Shit."_ Chuck thought. It took only a fraction of a second to make his decision. _"I'm sorry for breaking my promise, Sarah, but I can't just sit by if I can do something."_

 **Sarah's perspective…**

Sarah almost sighed with relief when she saw the door of the office where Chuck was hiding open a crack and his face peak out. It was getting tiring holding herself back from wiping the floor with Zarnow. Now was the time for the piece-de-resistance to her plan. Steeling herself, she allowed Zarnow to land a rather brutal blow on her, knowing the reaction it would have on Chuck. She watched as Zarnow bent over and picked up the tranq gun, then as her nerd came rushing out towards the scientist.

"Zarnow!" he yelled as he charged. Zarnow turned in surprise and tried to bring the tranq gun to bear on Chuck. But he was not fast enough, as Chuck showed his martial arts training, disarming Zarnow with a moon kick, before following it up with a jab to the chin. Zarnow stumbled backwards, trying to defend against Chuck's attacks. Sarah watched with fascination; this was the first time outside of sparring sessions with her and Casey that she had seen Chuck actual use his martial arts training. He was impressive, though clearly not yet up to CIA standards. He had the upper hand at the moment against Zarnow mostly because of surprise. Nevertheless, the skill and bravery he was showing would accomplish her goal of getting Beckman to start down the path of looking at him as a member of the team instead of just an asset.

 _"I need to end this."_ Sarah thought, glancing around for the tranq gun that Zarnow had dropped. Seeing it a few feet away, she went for it, grabbing it and bring it up to bear on Zarnow. Behind her she could hear Casey's footfalls rushing towards them. _"So Chuck activated the beacon. Good. The fact that he did that will help deflect any accusations of impulsiveness."_ She thought. However, it now made it more imperative that she end the fight; in another couple of seconds Casey would be within gun range, and he would kill the traitor. Not that he didn't deserve death; but they needed to be able to interrogate him and bleed as much information as possible from him.

"Chuck! Down!" Sarah shouted. Sarah felt pride go through her as Chuck immediately dove to one side without hesitation. It was a testament to how much he trusted her that he acted without hesitation at her command. A spilt second later Sarah fired, the tranquilizer dart hitting Zarnow in the back of the neck. He stood stunned for a moment, before collapsing on the ground, just as Casey arrived on the scene.

"Good work, Walker." Casey said. "Smart thinking activating the beacon, Bartowski."

"You can thank him for more than that." Sarah said. "Zarnow managed to get a hold of the tranq gun and was about to shoot me with it. Chuck was able to disarm him and keep him busy long enough for me to tranq him." Casey grunted and gave Chuck a nod of respect.

"Glad to see I wasn't wrong sticking up for you with the General." He said.


	11. Chapter 11

**_Author's Note:_** _Once again, thank you all for the kind reviews. Here is the latest chapter to this story. My plan right now is to alternate publishing chapters for this and my other story, Chuck vs the Apocalypse, ensuring that neither story goes to long without an update. I've also got a one-shot Chuck story in the works that I'll be publishing soon._

 **Chapter 10**

 **Office of Carmichael Security Services (aka Castle)**

 **Operations Office**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **October 7, 2007**

 **2200 hours**

"What went wrong tonight?" Graham demanded. He and General Beckman were on the computer screen, having called a video conference when Casey and Sarah had reported the events of that evening.

"I'm not sure, Director." Sarah answered, keeping her face neutral. "I was escorting the doctor out. Per our plan, the support team had placed a tracker on his car and I placed another one on him. For some reason, the doctor must have gotten suspicious, either that or he just decided it was worth the risk to try and grab me. I'll admit he caught me off guard; nothing in his file suggested he was as skilled in hand-to-hand combat as he was."

"Yes. I was surprised at that as well." General Beckman said. "Especially since according to the Director, you are supposedly better than any agent in either the NSA or CIA. And yet, from the surveillance, it appears as though he was able to gain the upper hand on you."

"General, you know as well as I do that no matter how good you are at something, two things are universal. First, there's always someone better. Now I'm not saying he was better; I was able to hold my own against him and would have handled the situation. But there's always the second thing – sometimes the bad guy gets in a lucky shot. Which is what happened. Thankfully Analyst-in-Training Bartowski heard the commotion and was able to distract him long enough for me to recover the tranquilizer gun and tranq him." Sarah said, mentally crossing her fingers that Beckman bought her explanation.

"Yes, Mr. Bartowski." Graham interjected. "That was very stu-"

"Good work." Beckman interrupted, glaring at Graham. "I knew from the NSA dossier on you that you've been taking martial arts for several years now, but it didn't do justice to your skill level. I must admit to being surprised and impressed."

"Thank you General." Chuck replied.

"That being said, I hope you realize that what you did was potentially disastrous. If Agent Walker hadn't been able to tranq the doctor, and he had managed to overpower you, you could have been killed, or worse, kidnapped." General Beckman said. "Do you understand how bad that would be?"

"Yes, General. I do." Chuck said, centering himself and remembering Sarah's advice on how to deal with this if asked. "I'm fully aware of my importance given my possession of the Intersect and do not take it lightly. I had already given my word to Agents Walker and Casey that I would not take impulsive and needless risks. I do not believe my actions in this instance violate that word. In my defense, I did activate the emergency beacon before I considered intervening. I had planned to leave it at that but then Dr. Zarnow went for the gun. He had his back to me, his attention was on Agent Walker. I knew I could get to him and hold my own long enough for Agent Casey to get there or for Agent Walker to get back in the fight. I'm sorry General, Director, but don't ask me to look the other way when someone's life is in danger, if there's a reasonable chance I can do something about it. That's not who I am."

"Major Casey, your thoughts?" General Beckman inquired.

"Ma'am, I would say that in this case, Mr. Bartowski's actions, while problematic, were warranted and justified. I'd prefer he'd had stayed in the office after activating the emergency beacon. But after reviewing the security log and talking to both Agent Walker and he about the circumstances, I understand his analysis of the situation and agree, reluctantly, with it." Casey responded.

"Very well." Director Graham said, sensing he was in a losing argument, yet again. "But let's not make a habit of this, shall we, Mr. Bartowski?"

 **Office of the National Security Advisor**

 **White House**

 **Washington, DC**

 **October 8, 2007**

 **0800 hours**

"Special Agent O'Day? The National Security Advisor will see you now." The National Security Advisor's secretary said from her desk. Special Agent Patrick O'Day, Federal Bureau of Investigation, got up from the seat he has been sitting in for the last twenty minutes and walked towards the door. The FBI Director had gone in to the National Security Advisor's office at that time, to report on the status of an investigation that would send shockwaves through America's intelligence community for years to come.

O'Day had been an FBI agent for fifteen years, and assigned to the FBI's National Security Branch since 2000. In that time he had worked many counter-terror and counter-intelligence cases, but none compared to the one he was now assigned. His thoughts went back to three weeks ago when he had been called into the office of the Director of the FBI and given his current assignment. He had been absolutely floored when the Director had told him about the dossier that the National Security Advisor had handed him earlier that day.

 _"I never thought I'd see the day when we were investigating the Director of the CIA for murder, extortion, and treason."_ He thought. _"Not only that, but the amount of evidence that the Advisor's source gave him, it was incredible."_ There was so much information in the dossier that the investigation had proceeded fairly quickly, although VERY covertly. The last thing they needed was for Director Graham to get wind of things. Therefore O'Day's team was small – just two other FBI agents a technical analyst on loan from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, and two trusted agents from the CIA's Office of the Inspector General.

"Sir, I'd like you to meet Agent O'Day." The FBI director said to the National Security Advisor as O'Day walked into the room.

"Agent O'Day, good to meet you. Your record at the FBI is impressive." The National Security Advisor said. "The Director says you're one of the best he has."

"Thank you sir." O'Day replied.

"So tell me son, where do we stand?"

 **Outside Situation Room**

 **White House**

 **Washington, DC**

 **October 12, 2007**

 **0700 hours**

Langston Graham was mentally cursing the President for the fifth time this morning. He had been awaken two hours earlier at his home by a call from the National Security Advisor, informing him that his presence was required for a meeting in the Situation Room at 0700 hours sharp. It was not the first time the President had called meeting suddenly and out of the blue – the man liked to try and remind everyone that he, not they, were really in charge.

 _"If that stupid bastard and his equally worthless National Security Advisor only knew."_ Graham thought smugly. Graham was convinced that if he wanted too, he could succeed where Fulcrum had been as yet unsuccessful – that is, taking the reins of government. But he shied away from direct and public power maneuvering. He was much more satisfied with doing what he had done over the course of his career – gathering power slowly and methodically, behind the scenes. The problem with being the "king" after all is that it makes you a very blatant target. He preferred to let others be the target, while he worked in the shadows, manipulating things. So Graham would play the part of the dutiful subordinate, even though he couldn't stand the National Security Advisor or the President.

As he approached the security check point at the door of the Situation Room, Graham saw that NSA Director General Diane Beckman, the FBI Director, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and interestingly enough, the Chairman and the Ranking Minority Members of the Senate and House Intelligence Oversight committees, were already in the process of checking in and entering. He took his place at the end of the line, and waited until the others had gone in. He then handed his ID to the guard. The guard inserted the card into a reader at the station. A few moments later, it beeped.

"I'm sorry sir, your access has been revoke." The guard said. Before Graham could respond, he felt someone grab him from behind and slam him against the wall.

"Langston Graham, you are under arrest on charges of embezzlement, falsifying government records, blackmail, conducting illegal intelligence operations, murder, and treason." Special Agent O'Day said, putting him in handcuffs.

"I'll have your badge for this!" Graham roared.

"I don't think so." The National Security Advisor said, stepping out from a side corridor. "You're through, Graham. We know all about your activities over the years. Take him away."

 **Various Locations around the US and the World…**

At almost the same time that Graham was being arrested outside the situation room, nearly fifty other individuals in various locations around the United States and the world were also being taken into custody. All were taken by surprise by Federal law enforcement agents (in the case of those in the US) or by US military special operations teams (in the case of those outside the US) and most either surrendered right away or were overwhelmed quickly. Five individuals, Graham's most fanatic follower's, were killed engaging in fire-fights with the authorities. Additionally, warrants were served on a number of properties and financial institutions. Within an hour, the majority of Graham's personal empire had been wrecked.

 **Carmichael Security**

 **Office of Sarah Walker**

 **Burbank, CA**

 **October 12, 2007**

 **1100 hours**

Sarah picked up her cell phone as it rang and hit the talk button. "Hello?"

"Hello ma'am. My name is Melissa Shaw. I'm a paid caller on behalf of the National Rifle Association. Would you be willing to take a brief survey?" Sarah perked up when she heard the name the caller used. It was one of several code names that she had pre-arranged with Carina, though the voice was not Carina's. Obviously she had arranged for someone to make this call.

"Sure. Go ahead." Sarah said. She proceeded to listen as the person on the other end asked a set of questions. Sarah responded, though her responses were not important. The questions themselves were a message, and a good one. The specific wording and order of the questions told her that her plan for Graham had come to completion. According to the code, not only had Graham been arrested, but so had the other individuals that were most culpable in his crimes, as provided by the dossier that had been provided to the National Security Advisor and the President.

But Sarah wasn't going to celebrate just yet; while Graham may be gone, she still had to make sure that Beckman continued to treat Chuck right and didn't interfere in their relationship. True, from the message from Carina, it sounded as though Beckman had been given new marching orders that seemed to bode well.

 _"_ _I'll just have to keep a sharp eye on her and make sure she actually follows those orders."_ Sarah thought.

 **Office of the Director of the NSA**

 **Fort Meade, MD**

 **October 12, 2007**

 **1700 hours**

General Diane Beckman drained her third glass of scotch in the past hour, still in shock at the events of the last several hours. When the National Security Advisor had walked into the room and announced that Graham had been arrested, she hadn't believed it. It was only after he started detailing the various crimes that Graham had committed, as well as showing the assembled group the evidence collected, that Beckman and the others had been shocked. Beckman was not naïve, she had been in the intelligence game for a long time and was well aware had how often rules got bent and that most of the directors of the various agencies engaged in behind-the-scenes empire building. But the extent that Graham had gone was unsettling, especially what the National Security Advisor had revealed concerning his use of a small group of agents fanatically loyal to him to settle scores and conduct unauthorized assassinations.

The National Security Advisor had gone on to say that the President, even more disgusted at Graham's actions than the National Security Advisor, had also ordered a full review of all operations, past and present, to determine if there were any others within the community engaging in similar activities. Finally, he had stated that President had decided that a major revamping of intelligence policy was required. For too long "ends justifies the means" had been used to excuse the violation of policy, law, and even the Constitution. He made it clear that going forward, all the agencies were expected to behave in manor more in line with the new policy.

Once the meeting had been dismissed, the National Security Advisor had asked Beckman to stay behind.

 _Begin flashback_

 _"General, I supposed you're wondering why I've asked you to remain?" the National Security Advisor said._

 _"Yes sir." She had replied._

 _"I'll cut right to the chase." He said. "With Director Graham now in custody, the President feels that the NSA should take over sole control of Operation Bartowski."_

 _"Yes sir." Graham said, struggling to keep her emotions under control. This was what she had wanted all along._

 _"Effective immediately, Bartowski and Agent Walker are detached from the CIA and assigned to the NSA." The National Security Advisor said. "But understand me, General. I was dead serious when I said that the President is NOT happy with how the intelligence agencies have handled certain operations or engaged in questionable activities. With regards to Operation Bartowski, there will be NO coercive actions taken against Mr. Bartowski or his family. I've read the young man's file, as well as received reports from other sources. He became involved in this mess because we could not control our own. He did not ask for it. Despite that, he has been cooperative and based on the information I've seen, he's acquitted himself quite well. That young man is NOT to be treated like an asset. You are instructed to continue training him as a Field Analyst, and he is to be treated as such. He will receive the same rights and benefits of any NSA employee. Make sure that Agents Walker and Casey understand that going forward, they are to consider themselves his partners, not his handlers."_

 _"Sir, that's very unusual. It goes against decades of policy and – "_

 _"Stop right there, General. I'll say it again. Mr. Bartowski is clearly a special case. He is not a typical asset that came to our attention due to actions he took. He is an innocent American citizen who was dragged into this situation against his will. We will not treat him like a criminal. Is that understood? If I get even a whiff that he is being treated as such, I will have the President relieve you." The National Security Advisor said._

 _"Yes Sir." Beckman had replied._

 _"One more thing. I've noticed that Graham and you have a history of authorizing terminations of assets. In Graham's case, most of those termination orders were questionable at best. Luckily for you, it appears that those orders you have issued have been well within the bounds of legality and ethics. But I'm warning you know, as I said earlier we will be watching this more closely. If I even suspect a termination order has been issued when it should have been, being fired will be the least of your concerns. And though I hope I don't have to say it, I will. Under NO circumstances is a termination order to be issued against Mr. Bartowski, his family, friends or Agents Walker and Casey without EXPRESS direction of the President. If such an order is given without that direction, I will ensure that you have a very uncomfortable stay in the United State Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana while you await your own execution."_

 _end flashback_

Beckman honestly didn't know what to think now. Part of her, the part that had been in the intelligence game for years, had serious doubts about the President's new instructions. Protocol existed for a very good reason, and the intelligence game was not pretty – sometimes nasty and questionable things had to be done for the greater good. And to take a civilian, albeit one with the Intersect in his head and judging from his file, a number of useful computer and engineering skills, and turning him into a Field Analyst without having been carefully vetted and selected, would normally be unthinkable, even reckless.

But the other part of Beckman was relieved, if she were honest with herself. The depths of Graham's crimes had shocked and disgusted her – if the President's new policy helped eliminate the extreme abuses that Graham had been able to commit, she would be glad. After all, their job was to defend the United States and its citizens. Graham had gone rogue. In many ways he was as bad as Fulcrum, or any of the other enemies they fought against. And she did have to admit to being surprised by Mr. Bartowski over the last few weeks. He had indeed seemed to be adjusting to his new situation quite remarkably. The team had been much more successful that she had initially thought it would be. And much of that success seemed to be attributable to Mr. Bartowski.

 _"Perhaps, in this particular case, the National Security Advisor is right."_ Beckman thought.


	12. Chapter 12

**_Author's Note:_** _After a long wait, here we are with the latest chapter of Second Chances. I had hoped to have it up Sunday night, but I got sidetracked dealing with some personal things. This chapter jumps ahead a few weeks from the previous one, and we are going to the impact that Graham's arrest and the President's new marching orders are going to have on our favorite couple. Just to warn you, this is going to be my longest chapter yet for this story, so you might want to get really comfortable._

 **Chapter 12**

 **Office of the Director of the National Security Agency**

 **National Security Agency**

 **Fort Meade, MD**

 **October 29, 2007**

 **2130 hours EST (1830 hours PST)**

General Beckman looked over the latest mission report from the Intersect project and shook her head in disbelief. While on a cover date with Agent Walker, Chuck Bartowski had flashed on a Chinese agent, Mei-Ling. In the course of the investigation into what the agent was doing, it had been discovered that she was in the United States to try and save her brother from the Chinese Triad. Initially Beckman had been inclined to have the team stand down and not get involved for fear of an international incident. But Bartowski had refused to take that route. Instead, he convinced the Chinese agent to defect, a task made possible because of her own government's unwillingness to help her brother, in exchange for the team's help in rescuing her brother. The team had pulled off the rescue almost flawlessly; Bartowski had even captured Lo Pan, the head of the Los Angeles branch of the Triad!

She shouldn't have been surprised, she told herself. Over the last few weeks, Walker, Casey and Bartowski had successfully completed a number of missions, several of which had major implications. This included the capture of La Ciudad, an international arms dealer virtually every intelligence agency in the free world had been trying to capture for years without success, and the successful recover of a valuable diamond that was to be sold to fund terrorist activity. And all of the success was due, if she were honest with herself, to Chuck Bartowski. Yes he had a vast government database in his head, which helped, but it was his ability to take the information given to him by the Intersect and interpret it in ways that most government analysts wouldn't that was the real advantage. On top of that, she was coming to see that his native intelligence was also a significant factor. Oh she had known he was smart – considering his degree's from Stanford and the reports of his work with Burbank Investigative Services – but she hadn't really realized how smart until now. It made her wonder whether or not he was aware of the game Graham had had Agent Walker pursuing with him. That thought brought her up short.

 _"If he is aware, he's certainly playing it cool. As far as I can tell, he really does have feelings for Agent Walker."_ Beckman thought to herself, frowning slightly. She was somewhat out of her element with this operation, as much as she disliked admitting it. Chuck Bartowski was completely unlike any asset or employee she had ever dealt with. Then another thought hit her. _"What happens when he finds out?"_ Taking a deep breath, she came to a decision. It was time to have a talk with Agent Walker.

 **Bartowski Residence**

 **Echo Park**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **October 29, 2007**

 **1830 hours PST (2130 hours EST)**

"Hi Sarah." Ellie greeted as her and Devon entered the apartment. Sarah was setting the table while in the kitchen, Chuck was moving around, preparing dinner.

"Hi Ellie." Sarah replied, smiling. "Dinner should be ready in a few minutes."

"Awesome, should give us just enough time to get out of these scrubs." Devon said, before heading down the hall to the bedroom he and Ellie shared. Ellie hesitated for a moment before following, smiling slightly as Sarah walked back into the kitchen. She had to admit, she had been concerned when Chuck had come home all those weeks ago and told her he had met the woman he had been talking to in cyberspace since high school. She had heard too many horror stories of online relationships going bad, some from co-workers, some from patients, and some from the news. Her anxiety was further increased when a few days later Chuck had come home and announced that he had taken a new job with a computer security firm that did work for the government and that he had been recruited by none other than Sarah. While she was happy to see her brother happy and moving on to bigger things, a part of her had been concerned he was moving too fast.

 _"Luckily I'm a big enough girl to admit when she's wrong."_ She thought to herself. As the weeks progressed, she was taken with how in tune Chuck and Sarah were with one another. Despite her early misgivings, Sarah was very good for Chuck. And she was quickly becoming a very good friend of Ellie's as well. Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she turned and headed back to the bedroom.

"Hey Sarah, can you hand me the oregano?" Chuck asked, as he stirred the sauce in the pan on the stove. Sarah opened the spice cabinet and located the bottle and handed to him. A second later, her phone beeped. Pulling it from her pocket she looked at the screen.

 _Agent Walker, we need to talk. Alone. Now. General Beckman._

Sarah's eyebrows rose as she read the message, the walked over to Chuck, showing him the phone.

"What do you think she wants?" he asked in a whisper.

"If I had to guess, she found that piece of paper I conned Graham into signing off on." Sarah responded.

"Are you sure we're ready for this?" Chuck asked. Sarah grinned.

"Don't worry about it. I got this." Sarah said. "Stall with your sister. Casey's at a Ronald Reagan Marathon at the old Markham Theater; I'll take it there. This shouldn't take long."

 **Apartment of Major John Casey**

 **Echo Park**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **October 29, 2007**

 **1835 hours PST (2135 hours EST)**

"Good evening, Agent Walker." Beckman said. "I'm sorry to pull you away from your cover date, but I felt this was conversation we better have sooner than later. And in private. I promise it won't take long."

"Yes General." Sarah replied. "Can I ask what this is about?"

"Yes, but first I need to do this." Beckman said, pressing a few buttons on her keyboard. A red light appeared on the corner of the video conference screen. A few seconds later, the sounds of locks engaging both in Casey's apartment and in Beckman's office could be heard. "There. I've utilized my command codes to turn off all the surveillance inside Agent Casey's apartment temporarily. There will be no record of this conversation."

"General? I'm not sure I understand." Sarah said, though she was now certain this was about. _"Here we go Walker. Time to take things to the next level."_ On the screen, Beckman stared at her intently. Then, without saying a word, she stood up, removed her service uniform coat, and with it her rank insignia, and placed it on the back of the chair and sat down.

"Agent Walker…Sarah." Beckman began. "I'm not sure if you recognize the significance of what I just did. It's been something of a unofficial tradition in the military that when an individual of a higher rank or who exercises authority over another member removes their rank insignia, that it is to be taken to mean that the conversation or interaction that is about to occur is not between subordinate and superior, but between peers. Mainly it is usually only used between NCOs and enlisted, but given the nature of this conversation, I wanted to make the gesture. Do you understand?"

"Yes General." Sarah replied.

"Sarah, for the next few minutes, I think it's best if you addressed me as Diane." Beckman said. Sarah's eyebrows rose in interested.

"Yes Gen…Diane." She said.

"Good. Just be clear. This conversation is between two women and agents. And completely off the record. I will be completely honest and open with you, and I expect the same in return. No harm will come to your career based on what you say in the next few minutes, as long as you are COMPLETELY honest with me." Beckman said. "The reason for this meeting is to discuss how to proceed forward with regards to Mr. Bartowski and yourself."

"I'm not sure I understand." Sarah said, trying to resist the urge to smile. She had been right.

"When this operation started, Chuck Bartowski was an asset, nothing more. As you know, there is standard procedures for dealing with assets. At the time, Graham and I agreed that having you pose as Mr. Bartowski's girlfriend made sense. I was also aware, based on your record that you never engaged in the traditional honey-pot traps that other female agents often use. So imagine my surprise when I found a note in Graham's files after they were turned over to me and I found a memo from Graham in the Intersect project folder detailing that he had given you permission to pursue what can only be described as a long-term modified honey-pot trap. Specifically, that in order ensure control over the asset, you had been given permission, and apparently accepted the permission, of engaging in the necessary activities to convince the asset you were falling in love with him and pursuing a long-term relationship." Beckman said. "Now, to say this would be out of character for you is an understatement. Likewise, from what I know of Graham, for him to specifically document such an approach on paper. He was clearly trying to protect you if somewhere down the road someone started asking questions. Am I close?"

"Yes." Sarah replied. "I requested he put something in my file. I was afraid that someone would decide I was going off the reservation."

"Someone like me, perhaps?" Beckman asked, then waved her hand silencing Sarah before she could speak again. "You are of course, correct. While he was classified as an asset, had I thought you were engaging an a long-term, real relationship with him, I would have had to put a stop to it – especially since I was left out of the loop as to what was going on by Graham.

Unfortunately, now we have a new problem. As you are aware, the President had issued new directives to the intelligence agencies in general, and to the Intersect project specifically, in wake of the discovery of Graham's crimes and activities. Chief among them is that in the case of Mr. Bartowski, he is explicitly NOT to be considered an asset. He is now officially a government employee, classified as a Field Analyst-in-Training. As such, you and Major Casey are now his partners and protective detail. So the rules and methods related to assets are no longer in play. This leads to the problem I spoke of earlier. If the President finds out we are running a honey pot trap on Mr. Bartowski, we will all be lucky if we are able to find employment scraping ice off of igloos in Alaska. I've also come to appreciate that Mr. Bartowski is in fact, a very intelligent and perceptive person. If he were to discover what you were doing, it could be equally as disastrous. My people here are telling me that it is very likely that the ability of the Intersect to present viable data is tied to the mental and emotional state of the person housing it."

"I agree, Diane." Sarah said. "I've noticed when Chuck is over stressed or upset, the flashes aren't as effective."

"Good. So we are left with the question of what to do." Beckman said. "As I said, if the President was to find out that this has all been a modified honey-pot trap, and eventually he will, we are all going to be in trouble. That is, assuming it HAS all been an act, Sarah."

 _"Holy shit!"_ Sarah thought, trying to stay calm. _"Looks like I didn't give her enough credit."_

"I'm not sure what you mean, Diane." Sarah said.

"Contrary to what you, or Major Casey, or a lot of others may think, Sarah, I'm not stupid. I may be a Rear Echelon Motherfucker (REMF) now, but I was also a damned good agent in my day. I can put 2+2 together, and read between the lines as good as the next agent. Like I said, what Graham's files indicated was VERY out of character for you. Which leads me to one of three conclusions.

Conclusion One – there is something more about Mr. Bartowski's abilities that you and Graham aren't telling me; something that makes him so valuable that you are willing to cross a line that you drew very early and clearly in your career. One that Graham had always respected, until now.

Conclusion Two – that Graham had something on you, something so dangerous that he was able to force you to cross your well-drawn line.

Or Conclusion Three – that for whatever reason, you decided to throw away your training and career and pursue a real relationship with Mr. Bartowski. And that this piece of paper was either Graham's conscious attempt to shield you, which I find unlikely. Or you either blackmailed or conned him into giving it to you." Beckman said. "If it's one or two, then I need to know what you and Graham haven't told me. Immediately. And we need to start planning a strategy to deescalate the relationship and let it fizzle. I'd prefer not to reassign you to another mission and have to bring another agent in, but I will if there's no other option. If its number 3, then I still want to know everything. Due to the President's instructions regarding Mr. Bartowski, a real relationship with him would not be automatically be disallowed, as relationships between agents, or agents and other employees, are not against regulations. Provided everyone involved can remain professional when needed. So, which is it Sarah?"

Sarah's mind raced as she examined all the angles and consequences. She had been expected an inquiry about Graham's memo. She hadn't expected Beckman to figure out that it might be there as smoke screen to protect her from the consequences of a real relationship with Chuck. She was also surprised that Beckman had not complained or shown reluctance over the President's recent directions.

"Before I answer that, Diane, I need to ask you a question." Sarah said, making her decision.

"And that is?"

"I know you couldn't have been thrilled with the President's new directives. From a purely operational standpoint, they make our job more difficult. And as someone who's been in your position for as long as you have, it couldn't have been easy having to move away from what you know. So why are you not more reluctant about all this?" Sarah asked.

"Three reasons. First, I'm a soldier, Sarah. And when a soldier is given a lawful order by her Commander-in-Chief, she obeys. Whether or not I agree with it." Beckman replied, stiffly, then softened. "Second, because after reading everything that that bastard Graham has done, I've come to see the President's point. We have over the years as a community gotten to use to skirting the lines of legality and ethical behavior. And that allowed Graham to get away with what he did for so long. And at times we've chosen to do things based on what was most convenient rather than what was best for the nation and our people. Third, as I've watch your team these past few weeks, I've come to the conclusion that Chuck Bartowski, as unorthodox a spy as he is, is the sole reason for the success we've had. And I'm not just talking about the Intersect. He is certainly intelligent and resourceful. And his unconventional way of looking at things has given us victories we never would have had. And he's done it all with little to no formal training. He's also taken two of the intelligence communities' best agents, who normally work alone, even prefer to do that, and help mold them into a team. Does that answer your question?"

"Yes." Sarah said, taking a deep breath before continuing. "You're right. About all of it. Initially I had intended to pursue my normal method of stringing the asset along with the vague promise of sex, but that went out the window pretty quickly. First because from his file and after engaging him in person that first day, it was obvious that it wouldn't work. Second, he was unlike any many I had ever met. By the time our "date" on that second day was over, I was taken with him. I wanted to get to know him – not as an asset, but as a man. So I concocted the long-term relationship honey-pot trap modification and sold it to Graham. I knew someone might start asking questions, and I needed a get out of jail free card."

"I see." Beckman said. "And now that you've had a few weeks to get to know him? Have your feelings changed?"

"Yes, Diane. They have. I'm falling in love with him. There's no other way to put it." Sarah said, looking away from the screen for a moment before returning it and standing up straighter. "But I have kept my focus and remained professional when necessary. It has not interfered with my ability to do my job. In fact, I think it's helped."

"Does he know?"

"How I feel about him? Yes. About what I asked Graham to do? And why I had to ask? Yes. He knows everything, Diane." Sarah replied. "You're right, he's very smart and perceptive. Even before I told him about Graham, he had guessed that there could be problems if he and I got too close."

"And Major Casey?"

"I have not told him the truth. But Major Casey isn't stupid either, nor is he as ignorant of people's emotions as he pretends to be. I would be very surprised if he doesn't suspect something is up, even if he doesn't know quite what it is."

Beckman remained quiet for a few moments, processing what she had just been told. She had in truth suspected that this might be the case; it was the only thing that made sense in her mind. Contrary to what she had told Sarah, she didn't think the first two options she had presented were very likely. Plus, she was also a woman. A woman who had also been in love and still was if she were honest with herself. After what seemed like an eternity to Sarah, but was really only another one or two minutes, she spoke.

"Very well. Given Mr. Bartowski's new status per the President's direction, your team's phenomenal success rate over the last few weeks, and the fact that you've behaved professionally when and where appropriately, I see no reason to open the can of worms that would follow by transferring you out of Los Angeles. I would ask you to be discreet, at least for now, since Mr. Bartowski is still technically a trainee. If you can do that, I can look the other way for a few more weeks until he is official." Beckman said. "However, there are some conditions that I will insist upon. First, I expect that your relationship will not interfere with your team's job. The minute I get the sense that it's impacting the ability of the team to do what it needs to, I will step in and end it. Two, Major Casey is to be brought in on EVERYTHING. I'll handle that. He is going to be my eyes and ears on this. And third, we are going to have to have another agent assigned to the team."

"What? Why?" Sarah asked, surprised. She hadn't foreseen this possibility.

"Because Sarah, as much as I believe that you will be able to continue operating in a professional manner, the fact remains that you are now emotionally compromised. There may come a time where that becomes a liability. If that happens, you'll need more than just Major Casey to back you up. And if it becomes too much of a distraction, having the extra agent already in place with mean less of an impact if I have to transfer you." Beckman said. "I don't anticipate either situation, to be honest. You're too good an agent. But I'd be derelict in my duty if I didn't cover the contingency."

"Who?" Sarah asked.

"I haven't decided that yet. I have two or three possibilities in mind. I'm going wait until I speak with Major Casey before coming to that decision." Beckman said. "Rest assured, picking someone who can easily integrate into the team and get along with everyone is something I will be looking at very carefully. Now get back to your dinner."

 **Bartowski Residence**

 **Echo Park**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **October 29, 2007**

 **1935 hours PST**

"That was an awesome meal, guys." Devon said as he picked up his and Ellie's plate to carry them into the kitchen. "Just what I needed after a long day in the operating room."

"Thanks Devon." Chuck said. "I know it's not up to Ellie's standard of cooking yet."

"Chuck, it was really good. I'm impressed. It won't be long before I think I'll have to turn all the cooking over to you, little brother." Ellie said, teasingly. Chuck blushed slightly, the usual reaction he had to praise from his older sister.

"Thanks Ellie. But it wasn't all me. Sarah helped." Chuck said, leaning over and giving Sarah a peck on the cheek. "She's pretty handy in the kitchen."

Now it was Sarah's turn to blush slightly. One of the things she had concentrated on over the last few years awaiting her chance to come to Los Angeles and see Chuck was to improve her cooking skills. In the other timeline she had enjoyed these meals the four of them would have together, but always felt a little sad and guilty that she couldn't contribute much to the actual preparation. So she had vowed to change that this time around. She didn't think she was up to Chuck's level yet and definitely not Ellie's but at lease she wasn't completely out of her league this time around.

"Thank you for saying that sweetheart." She said to Chuck. "But the truth is I didn't do much. Chuck did most of the work."

"Well, whoever was responsible, good job." Ellie said. "So movie night?" Sarah and Chuck exchanged glances and nodded.

"Sure. It's been a while since I've been able to just sit and enjoy a good film." Sarah said, then looked at Chuck. "Just no science fiction or superhero movies this time." Ellie laughed.

"Not to worry. I've got plenty of non-geek movies to choose from." Ellie said.

"Nerd! How many times do I have to tell you Ellie, its Nerd, not Geek!" Chuck said indignantly while Sarah, Devon and Ellie devolved into laughter.

 **Apartment of Major John Casey**

 **Echo Park**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **October 29, 2007**

 **2200 hours PST (1900 hours EST)**

"I'm sorry to pull you away from your movie marathon, John." Beckman said to her favorite subordinate and protégé. "But something important has come up."

"No problem General." Casey responded. "Do I need to get Bartowski and Walker as well?"

"No. While this conversation does relate to them, there's no need to have them present. I've already spoken with Agent Walker." Beckman said. She paused, reinitiating the same security procedures she had used with Walker.

"General?"

"John, I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Walker earlier. This conversation is strictly off the record." Beckman said. She then proceeded to fill Casey in on her conversation with Walker. When she had finished, Casey grunted in amusement.

 _"Looks like I was right."_ He thought to himself, smugly.

"You don't seem very surprised, John." Beckman stated.

"No ma'am. I was getting some vibes. Nothing I could prove, though."

"I see. And since you couldn't prove anything, you decided not to bring it to my attention?" Beckman asked. "Or was it that you felt you owed Agent Walker for Prague?"

"You knew about that?" Casey asked, surprised. Beckman grinned slightly.

"As I told Agent Walker, I may be a REMF now, but that doesn't mean I've lost my skills." Beckman said, sternly.

"Yes ma'am."

"Relax, John." Beckman said. "You did the right thing, especially in light of the President's new orders. So don't worry about it. I trust that your judgement was well thought out and correct. Going forward, however, I need to know that you'll report any significant impacts their relationship has on operations, particularly the negative ones. And by that I mean issues that cause tension or team dis-cohesion. Other than that, I don't want to know, as long as they can keep things professional at work."

"Permission to speak freely?" Casey asked.

"Granted."

"General, why aren't you more upset about all this? Even with the President's orders, this goes against long established rules and protocol." Casey asked. Beckman sighed, suddenly looking older than she was.

"Because I've spent the last few weeks looking over all the files on what Graham was up to." Beckman replied. "And I've had to do a lot of self-reflection and soul-searching because of it. As much as I want to dismiss Graham as an aberration, I can't. Oh, don't get me wrong, he's certainly an outlier – I don't think there is a current US intelligence director or agent that went so far off the reservation as he did. But it happens more than I care to admit. And he was able to get away with it for so long because we as a community got to use to putting expediency over methods; myself included. Mr. Bartowski's situation is a perfect example. We had all the data ahead of time that should have told us that Mr. Bartowski was not involved with Larkin. That he was an innocent caught up through no fault of his own. Yet look how Graham and I reacted. We initially proceeded as though he was like any other asset that came into the path of the CIA and NSA. We didn't care that he was an American citizen, even. I basically ordered you to capture him and through him into a bunker, without trial. Is it any wonder someone like Graham was able to get away with the things he did? Well no more. Between the President's orders and my own self-reflection, I'm determined to make things right."

"And this other agent you want to assign?" Casey asked.

"I have three candidates in mind. One is definitely my preference." Beckman said, then grinned. "Though I'm not sure how you'll feel about it."

 **Outside Sarah Walker's Car Outside of Bartowski Residence**

 **Echo Park**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **October 29, 2007**

 **2300 hours PST**

"So she's really okay with us?" Chuck asked, looking at Sarah in disbelief. The two of them had just walked out of Chuck's apartment and made their way to where Sarah's car was parked on the street.

"I don't know if I would go so far to say as we don't have to worry at all." Sarah said. "But right now she seems to be willing to look the other way. Part of that is the President's new directives. As for the rest? I'm not sure. It could be that Graham's arrest and the revelations about everything he's been up to over the years really did cause her to have a moment of real introspection and she really has had a change in view on how things should proceed. Or it could be she's being a good spy and telling us what we want to hear and trying to give us the rope to hang ourselves.

If it's the first one, then we still need to be careful, Chuck. Just because she's more willing to do things differently and let us have a relationship doesn't mean that she would hesitate to step in and yank us apart if our relationship caused issues operationally. So as much as I want to celebrate this victory by dragging you back to my hotel room and ravishing you until dawn, I think we need to stay on course and continue to take things slow. If for no other reason than to show her we are being reasonable and responsible about this. Plus, I don't think either of us is quite ready for that step yet."

"Yeah, you're right." Chuck replied. "As much as my hormones are screaming at me right now, I don't think it'd be a good idea yet either. The issues with Beckman and the government aside, I don't want to screw this, us, up by moving too fast. But what if it's the second possibility with Beckman?" Sarah stepped closer to Chuck and pulled him into an embrace and kissed him. A moment later she whispered in his ear.

"Don't worry, I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve. I think I can get her to back off if necessary. In fact, if who I suspect may be on her list of agents to bring into the team as a fourth is correct, it will actually help our situation. There's only a handful of agents that I think she would trust to work with us. Luckily for us, most of them either owe me big time or I've established a pretty good relationship with them over the years – though I'm sure Beckman is quite aware of it. I've always been very careful to not let the CIA or NSA know everything about me; I always had a feeling that someday it would be necessary to catch them by surprise. But I won't lie. It's possible that all my efforts might fail. In that case, we need to be prepared to run, Chuck. We'd need to go completely off-grid and disappear. I already have a basic plan in place if we need it, and some resources and allies to help us. I know it's a lot to ask, but it might be the only way to stay together and keep you out of bunker." Sarah said.

"What about Devon and Ellie?" Chuck asked. "And Morgan?" Sarah rested her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"I think we could probably take Devon and Ellie with us, if they were willing." Sarah said. "But I don't know about Morgan. I'm sorry Chuck, I know he's your best friend. And I like him a lot too. But the more people involved in this, the harder it would be. Besides, he won't be in danger from the government if we run, unlike Devon and Ellie. Being family, they'd be the primary leverage the government would look to use against you. I promise I'll do everything I can to make sure he's safe before we leave though."

"Ok." Chuck said. "I kind of figured that would be the case, and I get it. And thank you for including Ellie and Devon in your plan. I don't think I could live with leaving them. And for trying to keep Morgan safe, even if he can't go with us. But you're wrong about one thing, Sarah. Morgan may be my best male friend, but he's not my best friend overall. That's you. And you're not just my best friend. You're so much more. I know we just agree to take things slow, but I need to tell you. I'm no longer just falling for you, Sarah. I'm head over heels in love with you." Sarah pulled her head up and looked at Chuck.

"Oh, Chuck." She said, tears of happiness forming in her eyes. "I love you too." Then she leaned forward and captured his lips again, kissing him with more passion then they had yet engaged in. He quickly returned the kiss. After a few moments, the need for oxygen forced them to pull apart. "I better go before my resolve completely implodes. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, she turned and got into her car before speeding off. Chuck watched her drive off for a moment, then turned and walked back to his apartment.

 **Undisclosed Location**

 **October 29, 2007**

 **2300 hours**

A beep alerted the occupant of the small room to the computer on the desk. The figure got up from the table on the other side of the room and walked over to the computer. After entering a password, the screen flashed and Microsoft Outlook appeared, with a new message in the inbox. A mouse click later and the e-mail content was displayed.

"Interesting." The figure murmured. "Very interesting."


	13. Chapter 13

**_Author's Note:_** _And I'm finally back. I apologize for the delay in posting this latest chapter. I also wanted to thank everyone for their reviews on the last chapter, particularly everyone's theories on who the new team member would be and who the mysterious figure at the end of the chapter was. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your ideas. I was particularly intrigued by one idea that was suggest, that is having Bryce be the new team member. But while it would definitely be original and interesting to write, explaining how he's still alive and General Beckman knowing he's still alive, along with the dynamics of him redeeming himself to Chuck, in the end I decided against it. Bryce is one of those characters that I love to hate (I never really bought the "he did what he did to protect Chuck" angle in the show, to be honest), so having him become a part of the team doesn't work for me. I have other plans for him (imagine evil grin and overlord laugh here). In the interest of honesty, when I wrote the last chapter, I had not yet determined the answer to either of those questions, so reading your ideas helped me settle on the eventual direction I would go._

 _Finally, I'm leaving for vacation in a few days, so I'm hoping that the next chapter won't be quite so long in coming. Without work and my Master's degree program getting in the way for a whole week, I think I should be able to write the next chapter pretty quickly, even considering the fact that I'll be spending a lot of time with the kids and wife. Although given the fact that I'll be sitting on beach at an all-inclusive resort in Mexico sipping free alcoholic drinks much of the time, I make no promises about the deadline or the coherentness of whatever I do write_ _J_ _._

 **Chapter 13**

 **Lecture Hall C**

 **Stanford University**

 **Stanford, CA**

 **November 5, 2007**

 **1300 hours**

Professor George Fleming looked up from his notes, ready to continue his lecture on subliminal imagery, when he noticed a figure the lecture hall from the entrance at the back of the hall. While he didn't recognize the man, his demeanor immediately set alarm bells off in Professor Fleming's mind. Coming to a quick decision, he closed his notebook.

"I'm…I'm sorry, I'm going to have to end class early today. Have a good afternoon." He said, rushing to pick up his things. As the students began getting up from their seats, he headed for the exit on the side of the lecture hall. He continued walking towards his office, looking over his shoulder. He didn't see any pursuit, but he knew that man that had entered the lecture hall was coming for him.

When he reached his office, he closed and locked the door. Moving around to his desk, he pulled a cell phone out of the drawer and hit a combination of keys.

"This is Fleming. I've been compromised." He said. A moment later he heard someone at the office door. "Oh God, there here. I've got to go." He hung up the phone, grabbed several stacks of papers and made his way to the secret escape door he had built in his office.

 **Operations Office**

 **Carmichael Security Services (aka Castle)**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **November 6, 2007**

 **0800 hours**

"Good morning team." General Beckman said via the secure video conference.

"Good morning, General." Chuck, Casey and Sarah replied.

"First a little bit of personnel business." Beckman said. "Your new team member will be arriving next week."

"And our new team member is?" Chuck asked. Next to him, Casey gave what Chuck had come to identify as Grunt #7 – _Shut up. You'll be told when it's necessary and not before._

"I'm not ready to divulge that yet." Beckman replied. "Rest assured, I have vetted this candidate extensively, and considered how they would fit into the team dynamic. I will give you a full dossier at the end of the week. Is that understood?"

"Yes General." Casey said, shooting Chuck a look that clearly told him to shut up.

"Good. Now, as to the main reason for my call. We have a situation involving one of the CIA's campus recruiters. They received an SOS call from him yesterday afternoon." Beckman stated. "He indicated that he was enacting his escape and evasion plan. Agents were dispatched to the scene, but found no trace of the professor or his pursuers. They did validate that something happened, as the Professor's office had been broken into and ransacked. It appears as though the Professor has either already been taken or has deviated from his E&E plan. I'm hoping the Intersect may have something in it than can help us."

Sarah glanced at Chuck and silently prayed that the changes in his self-esteem and confidence, not to mention circumstances, that she had been able to affect since her return in time from the other timeline would be enough to help him with the shock he was about to receive. She thought so, since this time around he had readily accepted Awesome and Ellie's invitation to attend the upcoming UCLA/Stanford football game.

"Ok. Do we have a picture or file I can look at?" Chuck asked. Beckman hesitated a moment before answering.

"Yes Chuck, I'll send it to you in a moment. But first, I need to prepare you. The individual I'm speaking of is someone you have met in the past, though I was not fully aware of the connection until recently." Beckman said. She then typed on a keyboard. A moment later the screen spilt and a picture of Professor George Fleming appeared. "The professor's name is George Fleming. Of Stanford University."

 **Sarah Walker's Porsche**

 **CA-25 South**

 **Enroute to Los Angeles from Stanford University**

 **November 8, 2007**

 **1700 hours**

Sarah glanced over from her seat on the driver's side of the car to the passenger seat, where Chuck was sitting. He hadn't said more than a handful of words since they departed Stanford two hours ago. It wasn't surprising, given all that he had learned over the last forty-eight hours. Just like in the previous timeline, when Beckman had revealed the identity of Professor Fleming as the missing CIA campus recruiter, Chuck had been shocked. Unlike the last time however, he had not refused Beckman's request to use his relationship to try and extract him, even though later that night, in private, he had expressed to Sarah his uneasiness with helping the professor who had him kicked out of Stanford. He had also been just as confused and concerned that he has been in the Intersect, this time having flashed when Fleming's picture came up on the screen during the briefing. All in all though, thanks to the changes Sarah was able to make, he handled the situation much better than in the previous timeline.

Unfortunately, even with Sarah's memories of the previous timeline, they had been unable to prevent Magnus Einar from shooting Fleming with a crossbow or retrieving the coded message that Fleming had tried to pass on. The result was that the team still ended up in a confrontation at Stanford with Einar and his associates, though this time the team was able to take care of their opponents without activating the student-agents Fleming had listed on the disk he had hidden in the library.

Sarah flushed slightly as she recalled Chuck's actions during the confrontation; unlike the last time, there had been no visible panic when things had gone pear shaped at the University. Instead, he had made full use of his martial arts training, as well as the limited fire-arms training that she and Casey had given him. Granted, it was still obvious he was uncomfortable with the idea of using guns and taking a life, and had definitely not acted like a fully trained agent would have, but he had given a good account of himself, disabling several the attackers. As much as she loved and adored the Chuck of her memories, she was forced to admit that this new, more confident Chuck was causing reactions the old Chuck hadn't at this same point in time. He reminded her of the later Chuck, the one who had downloaded the Intersect 2.0 and had grown into his role as an agent.

And of course, after it was all over, she had allowed Chuck to view the file with his name on it; this time doing it while they were still at Stanford, and with Casey's knowledge. And that was the reason for Chuck's quiet mood since leaving Stanford. Sarah knew what Chuck was going through, from the shock of finding out that he was to be recruited into the CIA while at Stanford, to the confirmation that it was indeed Bryce's fault he was expelled, and Bryce's so-called explanation as to why he was doing it. Taking one hand off the steering wheel, she reached over and took Chuck's hand in hers.

"Talk to me Chuck." Sarah said softly. Chuck turned to look at her and smiled sadly.

"It's a lot to take in." he said after a moment. "For years I wondered why Bryce had lied and gotten me kicked out of Stanford, and why Professor Fleming seemed to go along with it. Now to find out that I was a potential CIA recruit and Bryce did it to keep me from being recruited? On the one hand, it's a relief to finally know. On the other, it makes me angry." Sarah looked at him in surprised; she hadn't expected that reaction. In the previous timeline, Chuck had almost instantaneously forgiven both Bryce and Fleming for what happened.

"Why angry?" she asked.

"It's hard to explain." Chuck replied. "I doubt I would have taken Fleming up on the offer of recruitment at that time – it wasn't the way I was wired. Even with my martial arts training and the lessons that Master Kearse had imparted to me about the need to sometimes fight, I was still pretty much as I had been when my parents left – a bit too naïve, to trusting and definitely not a fan of confrontation. But damn it, it should have been MY decision to make. Not Bryce's. Not Fleming's. His heart may – though I'm not so sure I buy the excuse he gave on the tape – have been in the right place, but Bryce had no right to make that decision for me. And even if I believed what he said, it sure as hell didn't give him the right to almost ruin my life to prevent it. If the appeals board hadn't agreed to re-look at my case and ruled in my favor, I shudder to think where my life would have been when you found me."

"What do you mean about not being sure about Bryce's reasoning on the tape?" Sarah asked, surprised again. Last time around, Chuck had believed it whole heartedly. Hell, she had believed it – and, she realized, she still did. Was she missing something?

"Again, it's nothing concrete I can explain." Chuck answered. "And it's entirely possible I'm being paranoid or just becoming jaded thanks to my work with Burbank Investigative Services – too many cases involving cheating spouse, embezzlement, etc. But looking back on things, there were hints that something was, I don't know, off about Bryce and more importantly, our friendship. Bryce as always _really_ competitive, with everyone, but the last year before I was expelled, it was like his competitiveness went into overdrive where I was concerned. At the time I didn't think much of it, but now? I can't help but wonder if he had suspicions or knew about Fleming's plan to recruit me before he intercepted that phone message. And I can't help but wonder if at least part of his reason for taking the choice away from me was because he was afraid I'd upstage him somehow. I mean, think about it. Based on what you've told me, what's in the Intersect, and the video, its obvious Bryce was recruited fairly early on at Stanford. In fact, his records show he was one of the youngest to be recruited. And his scores on Fleming's subliminal messaging tests were higher than anyone's, at least until mine came along."

Sarah had to prevent her jaw from dropping open. Hearing Chuck reason his way through it, she wanted to mentally kick herself for not seeing it sooner. It was entirely possible he was right – or rather, that Bryce's wanting to save Chuck from the CIA life was only a part of the reason he did what he did. She was still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that there was at least _some_ truth to the excuse he had given both in the previous time line and this one.

"Don't get me wrong." Chuck continued. "I'm still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, to a degree. I don't think it was all some Machiavellian plot to eliminate a potential rival – and frankly, I don't honestly believe at that point I was really that much of a rival to him, despite my test scores in Fleming's class. I'd like to think that there was some genuine feelings of concern for my well-being physically and emotionally involved."

Sarah smiled as she listed to Chuck reiterate her own thoughts on the subject. No, this Chuck might be more mature, more worldly then the Chuck in the old timeline at this point, but he definitely still retained much of the same qualities that had attracted her to him in the first place. He was just more, temporized would be the best word, than before. And it was driving her crazy in a way she hadn't expected.

 _"Dear God I don't know how much longer I can hold out before jumping him."_ Sarah thought to herself.

 **Operations Office**

 **Carmichael Security Services (aka Castle)**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **November 9, 2007**

 **0800 hours**

"Excellent work, team." General Beckman said the next morning as they had debriefed her about the events at Stanford. "Especially you, Chuck. Both Agent Walker and Agent Casey had nothing but praise for your behavior and performance on this mission, although that shouldn't be a surprise by now."

"So you're not going to chew me out for putting myself in danger during the firefight?" Chuck asked, grinning slightly. "Who are you and what have you done with General Beckman?" Sarah stifled a laugh at Chuck's remarks and her look of surprise when she saw Beckman give Chuck a genuine smile in return. Next to her, Casey muttered something that she couldn't quite make out, but knowing him, it was probably some sort of groan at Chuck's unprofessionalism, though she knew it would only be a reflex reaction his part. Like Chuck, the Casey of this timeline was already significantly different at this point in time than in the other timeline.

"No Chuck." Beckman said. "Oh don't get me wrong, I did cringe inwardly when I first heard what happened – there's no doubt that you could have been killed or seriously hurt – but given the circumstances and the outcome, as well as your performance over the last few weeks, I believe that I might have been a bit too harsh at first about your tendency to go where angels fear to tread. And frankly, the revelations from the files that you retrieved from Fleming show that you were meant to house the Intersect all along. Project Omaha was the original code name for the Intersect project. It was discontinued after several candidates were unable to handle even a fraction of the Intersect data being uploaded and it was learned that the candidate that was considered as likely the best to house it had been expelled. I can kill Larkin for what he did, if he wasn't dead already. If he hadn't interfered, it's entirely possible we'd have been able to bring Fulcrum down a long time ago with your help. Although I shudder to think what that bastard Graham would have used you to do as well."

"Thank you General." Chuck said.

"Now on to other matters." Beckman said, typing at her keyboard. "I've just sent you an encrypted file with the name and full dossier on the agent I propose adding to the team. Please decrypt it and review everything and let me know if the Intersect pings on anything of concern. We will reconvene this afternoon at 1500 to discuss matters. If everything is clear, the new agent will arrive on Monday." A moment later, the screen went black as Beckman hung up.

 _"Well one thing has stayed the same,"_ Sarah thought, amused. _"When Beckman is finished with you, she doesn't waste time with pleasantries before hanging up."_ Casey was already moving to the computer console and downloading and unencrypting the file. A moment later he had finished, bringing it up on the monitor. Sarah smiled – she had guessed right. Staring back at them was the picture and dossier of Carina Miller. To her surprise, next to her Chuck showed the tell-tale sign of a flash, which confused her. She knew that Chuck had flashed on Carina back during the Peyman Ali mission, and between that and what she had told him since (which was more this time around then last time) she had thought he had flashed on all the relevant information about her in the Intersect. _"Apparently not."_ Then she saw the details of Carina's proposed cover at the bottom of the screen and laughed out loud. Casey, who had already known the Carina was going to be the agent Beckman added to the team, looked confused until he read the same line. Beckman had NOT told him about this.

"Oh hell!" he exclaimed, then in an uncharacteristic manner, looked to the sky and said, almost as though he was talking to God, "What did I do to deserve this!"

 **Sarah Walker's Hotel Room**

 **Maison23**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **November 9, 2007**

 **2200 hours**

Sarah sighed as she relaxed in the steaming water of her tub and took a sip from the wine glass that was sitting on the edge. It had been a long but amusing day. After the revelation that Carina would be joining the team, and that her cover would be that of Casey's new girlfriend, she and Chuck had spent the day alternating between teasing Casey and trying to calm him down. To say he wasn't happy with the situation was an understatement.

 _"Not that I can blame him, after what happened in Prague."_ Sarah thought, disgustedly. Even in the old timeline, Carina's games had annoyed Sarah; this time around they had bothered her even more, given her knowledge of how it had hurt Casey and given that she had come to respect him and consider him a friend. So she had taken the opportunity to intervene, albeit not soon enough to completely spare Casey the embarrassment of being played by Carina in Prague, and retrieved the photos Carina had taken and gotten Casey freed from the handcuffs before he had been reported overdue.

Since then, she had tried to help Carina mature a little more, with mixed results. While not quite as impulsive and flirtatious as she was in the previous time line, she was still much the same as she had been before. This was made even more abundantly clear from the flash that Chuck had experienced in Castle earlier in the day, which concerned a couple of quasi-professional/personal antics that Sarah had not known about. Needless the say, Sarah was a little more than apprehensive about Carina joining the team. On the one hand, she knew without a doubt that Carina could be trusted and in many ways would be an asset to the operation. On the other, her past history with Casey and her wild tendencies could make things awkward for a while. _"Oh well, at least this time she won't be trying to get into Chuck's pants."_

THAT thought caused Sarah to flush, remembering the Peyman Ali mission. Like in the other timeline, Carina had attempted to seduce Chuck, and like last time he shot her down cold. Which of course had initially just made Carina more interested. But after some discreet "best friend girl talk" over a set of secure burner phones the two former partners used to keep in touch, Sarah had been able to get across to Carina why it would be a bad idea to continue pursuing Chuck. Mainly that to do so would be to invite the wrath of Sarah and her knives. And of course, Beckman's decision a little over a week ago to change the parameters of Chuck's relationship vis-à-vis the NSA and the official sanctioning of a relationship with Sarah, the nail had been put in the coffin of any hopes Carina had.

 _"Congratulations, blondie."_ Carina had texted her. _"You're one luck bitch, I hope you know that. No man has ever been able to resist me like he did. He must really love you."_

Sarah felt a flood of warmth, warmth that had nothing to do with the hot water she was soaking in, move through her as she thought about that. She recognized it immediately as something that was intimately familiar to her from the last time line and this one as well. It had happened almost a dozen times a day after she had met Chuck and fallen for him, even when she had been resisting it – intense love coupled with unbelievable desire. And it was only worse now because she knew from her memories just how powerful and wonderful it would be when they finally gave into their desires.

It had almost happened tonight, as a matter of fact. After the meeting with Beckman at 1500, the couple had decided to go out to dinner, followed by a long walk on what had become "their beach." Eventually they had found themselves sitting in the sand, engaged in one of the most intense make out sessions they had had in this timeline, and if Sarah was honest with herself, it even rivaled most of the ones she remembered from the previous one. Only the fact that they were technically in public, albeit on a deserted beach at night, and Chuck's stated determination that a) he didn't want their first time to be some hurried affair on a beach, but rather something more special and b) that he thought they should wait just a little while longer, had stopped her from forcing herself on him right then and there.

And so now, here she was, sitting in this tub, completely on fire now as she remembered their encounter on the beach. _"Oh well, I guess I can settle for taking care of things myself for just a little while longer."_ She thought, as her right hand began to slowly caress down her body, before disappearing under the water. Moments later, all ability to continue any kind of coherent thoughts had vanished.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

 **Shipping Yard**

 **Helsinki, Finland**

 **November 19, 2007**

 **2300 hours**

Daavid Hiltunen cursed as he and his partner Aabel Pentti watch the crane lift the large shipping container onto the Container Ship _Aila_. Helsinki was suffering from one of the coldest Novembers on record and he really didn't want to be out here tonight. But his boss had called earlier that day and assigned him and Aabel to oversee the transfer of a high value shipment headed for Los Angeles. Daavid knew better than to ask what the shipment was; if his boss had wanted him to know, he would have told him.

"If this shipment is so important and time sensitive, why the hell are they sending it via container ship?" Aabel asked, watching the scene.

"Don't ask me, Aabel." Daavid replied. "And frankly, I don't want to know."

 **Lou's Deli**

 **Burbank, CA**

 **November 20, 2007**

 **1300 hours**

"So, Chuck, Morgan tells me you guys have been friends since kindergarten." Lou Palone said, pouring him another cup of coffee. He and Sarah were sitting on one side of a four-person table, with Morgan and Lou on the other side. Morgan and Lou had been dating for several weeks and he had been pestering Chuck to meet Lou.

"Yep." Chuck said. "We met on the first day of school. Been friends ever since."

"Yeah, Chuck and I have been through a lot over the years." Morgan said. "He watched out for me in school, tried to protect me from bullies and he was there when my mom and dad split up."

"And Morgan was there for me and my sister when first our mom took off, then our dad." Chuck continued.

Sarah smiled as she sat listening to the two friends rehash their experiences together. In the previous timeline, it had taken her a while to warm up to Chuck's best friend and hetero life-partner. Partly that was because in that timeline she had never had the experience of having close friends or people who cared for her until she met Chuck and his family and friends. And part of it was snobbishness on her part; the Morgan Grimes of that timeline was an unapologetic slacker and she could not see past that persona for a long time. In time she had come to see Morgan's good qualities and to appreciate the unwavering loyalty he had for Chuck.

Though if she was forced to admit it to herself, she was somewhat surprised at how the Morgan Grimes of this timeline was compared to the previous timeline. Though he maintained a lot of the same personality in terms of his nerdiness, humor, caring, etc, he was also more mature then the old Morgan. For some reason she hadn't considered the fact that by changing Chuck's life, that she might also have a secondary effect on Morgan. But it appeared that as Chuck matured, Morgan did too. He was already the Assistant Manager at the Buy More, a position he didn't hold in the other timeline for a few more years yet. And from what Sarah had heard and observed, he took his job seriously. Then of course there was the fact that he was dating Lou.

"That's great. I had a best friend like that once." Lou said. "Unfortunately she was killed in a car accident two years ago. I still miss her every day." The table was quiet for a few moments, nobody being sure what to say, before Lou cleared her throat and changed the subject. "So Sarah, I hear you moved out here from DC?"

"Yes. The company I work for was looking to open an office here in LA, and I'd been getting tired of the East Coast winters, so I volunteered." Sarah said, giving the cover story they had agreed on. "Turns out it was the best decision I'd ever made." She smiled at Chuck and leaned over and gave him a quick kiss.

"And you guys work together?" Lou asked.

"Yeah. Chuck's name was at the top of a very short list of computer security experts so my bosses sent me to check him out." Sarah said.

"Yeah, and she did a good deal of 'checking me out'" Chuck teased. "When she first walked into my office I thought she was going to start salivating right then and there."

"Ha! You should talk!" Sarah teased back. "He barely kept his jaw off the floor when I walked in." Chuckles rang around the table and Chuck shrugged, acknowledging the truth of Sarah's observations.

"I still can't believe you two had been cyber friends for years and didn't even know who each other was." Morgan said. "Talk about crazy coincidences."

"So Chuck, Sarah. Morgan and I got an invitation to the opening of a club an old friend of mine owns. We were wondering if you'd join us." Lou said.

"What's it called?" Sarah asked.

"You know, I can't remember the name. Hang on, I have the invitation around here somewhere." Lou replied, then got up and left the table. Meanwhile, Morgan looked at his watch.

"Damn. My breaks over. I've better get back to the store. No telling what Jeff and Lester will get up to if I'm not there." Morgan said, standing up. A moment later, Lou returned to the table with an invitation and handed to Sarah. After looking at it she handed it to Chuck, who immediately flashed, as Sarah knew he would. Luckily Lou and Morgan were engrossed in saying goodbye to each other and didn't notice.

 **Operations Office**

 **Carmichael Security Services (aka Castle)**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **November 20, 2007**

 **1400 hours**

"Geez Chuckles, can't you give a girl a chance to get settled in before making her work?" Carina Miller asked, taking a seat at the conference table. "For crying out loud I haven't even had a chance W establish my cover with lover-boy over there yet." A grunt of disgust emanated from the other side of the table where Casey was sitting. Carina had arrived to join the team about a week ago and had been fully read into the situation regarding Chuck and the Intersect. To say she had been shocked was an understatement. She had suspected from her previous mission working with the team that there was more to Chuck than an asset/analyst, especially after Sarah had told her that she had begun a sanctioned relationship with Chuck, and the rather severe warnings General Beckman had given her about being on her best behavior while assigned to the team, but she hadn't expected anything like this.

"Sorry Carina." Chuck said, flashing her a grin. "I can't control the flashes I get."

"Carina, what did we talk about?" Sarah said in a warning tone. Carina looked down, abashed.

"Yeah, I remember. No teasing Casey or Chuck." She said. "Sorry guys. Old habits are hard to kick."

"As much as I hate to agree with Miller," Casey said, "she does have a point. We're going to need to get moving on our cover soon. Until we do, it's going to be hard to explain her presence outside of the office to Ellie, Devon, and Grimes."

"Then you'll both be happy with tonight's operation." General Beckman said, appearing on the screen. "We've managed to secure an additional invitation to the party at Club Ares, so you and Agent Miller will be going together using your cover."

"Yes General." Casey and Carina responded.

"Now, thanks to Chuck's flash, we know that the owner of the club, Stavros Dimetros is a member of the Dimetros crime family. Latest intelligence has informed us that the organization is smuggling a package into the Los Angeles area sometime within the next seventy-two hours, though what that package is and how it's coming into the country are still unknown." Beckman said. "But given their past history and the groups they've dealt with in the past, it's likely not going to be something we want getting loose. It's imperative that we find out what's going on."

"You can count on us, General." Chuck said. "Though, I'm still concerned about Morgan and his girlfriend being in the middle of this operation."

"I understand, Chuck." Beckman replied. "Unfortunately, there's not helping it. I promise you'll we'll do our best to keep them safe. That's part of the reason we're sending Agent Casey and Agent Miller in with you instead of leaving them on the outside. I also have a Tactical Response Team on standby if needed."

"Don't worry Chuck." Carina said, seriously for once. "We'll make sure they stay safe."

 **Port of Los Angles**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **November 22, 2007**

 **1900 hours**

Sarah cursed under her breath as she ducked behind a crate, narrowing getting out of the way in time before a bullet passed through the space she had been standing a second ago. Though parts of the mission the last two days had gone much better than last time around – Chuck hadn't been dating Lou, they hadn't been caught bugging Stavros and his father's meeting, etc – all was not roses, as evidenced by their current situation. Apparently Stavros's father finding the bug last time had only been confirmation of his suspicious nature, because just like last time, the first dock they raided the night before had turned up empty save a security camera. And just like last time, the video footage led the bad guys straight to her and Chuck – not to mention Morgan and Lou. Luckily with the addition of Carina and Sarah's knowledge of what was coming (though of course, the rest of the team didn't know that Sarah knew), they were able to prevent Stavros's men from doing any damage and were able to capture several.

Between the information Casey had been able to get out of the captives during interrogation, and another flash by Chuck (something that hadn't happened the last time) the team was able to find the location of the container. Unfortunately, just like last time, Stavros's father had the place heavily guarded. And now she and Chuck were temporarily pinned down, and Casey and Carina had been separated from them earlier. Worse, she was the only one who knew that the container did not contain a bomb or other nefarious object, instead containing the revived body of Bryce Larkin.

Sarah had tried to figure a way to tip the team off ahead of time, but nothing she came up with seemed to have a chance of working, at least not without her having to come clean about everything – something her Guardian angel had warned her against as having the potential to cause to many bad alternatives. And so she had been forced to act like the others, and just prayed that none of them would get killed.

 **Sarah Walker's Hotel Room**

 **Maison23**

 **Lost Angeles, CA**

 **November 22, 2007**

 **2300 hours**

"This has been some day." Chuck said, after he and Sarah walked into her hotel room. After the smuggled device had turned out not to be a bomb, Beckman had dispatched a team to move the device to a secure facility near Los Angeles to try and get in it. Casey and Carina had volunteered to go with the device, allowing her and Chuck to head back to her hotel.

"Yeah. Tell me about it." Sarah said, grinning inside. Much like last time, her and Chuck had managed to reach the container and just like last time Chuck didn't flash. And so, thinking that they were about to die – something that Sarah of course knew was not the case – Chuck had engulfed her in a goodbye kiss, just like last time. Unlike last time however, there was none of the awkwardness after the device failed to explode and Sarah had no intention of pulling away. In fact, it was all part of her plan. Tonight would be the night that she got to experience Chuck's other talents for the first time, again. "I really thought we were in trouble there for a little while."

"Sarah, about that." Chuck said. "Tonight we came really close to losing one another. And it made me realize that life is short. Especially given the line of work that we're in."

"What are you saying Chuck?" Sarah asked, though on the inside she was dancing; she was pretty sure she knew where this was going.

"You already know how I feel about you. And I know we've been taking things slowly for a lot of reasons." Chuck replied. "But tonight made me realize how fast we could lose one another. I understand if you still think we should go slow and I'm not suggesting we stop being discreet, throw caution to the wind and run off and get married, but I want you to know I'm ready to go all in, heart, mind, soul and body. Hell, it takes every ounce of willpower I have to cut our make out sessions short; or to simply leave her after dropping you off after one of our dates."

 _"_ _Yes!"_ Sarah cheered to herself. This was what she wanted. Without saying a word she flung herself into his arms and began kissing him. A second later his arms enveloped her and he began kissing her back just as fiercely. The two partners stood there locked like this for several moments before separating. "I'm ready to, Chuck." Sarah said huskily. "How about we get out of these clothes and I show you just how ready I've been for weeks." She nearly chuckled at the look of shock that briefly crossed his face before he recovered.

Without another word, they embraced again, kissing more frantically this time, while their hands roamed each other's bodies and began pulling off pieces of clothing from each other. It was the work of only three or four minutes before they were both disrobed and had fallen back onto the bed.

"Are you sure?" Chuck asked, breaking off from another kiss and looking her deep in her eyes.

"Yes, Chuck. I'm sure." Sarah replied. "Make love to me." Chuck grinned and leaned down to kiss her again, his hands beginning to roam up and down her body once more. Within minutes, the two partners, best friends, boyfriend/girlfriend and now, lovers, had become completely enthralled in passion and all thoughts of the rest of the world were put on hold and forgotten for the rest of the night.

 **CIA/NSA Black Research Facility**

 **Outside Los Angeles, CA**

 **November 23, 2007**

 **0800 hours**

Casey stifled a yawn as he watched the CIA/NSA research team continue their efforts open the device the team had recovered the previous night. It had been a long night, made all the more difficult because of the turmoil going on inside his mind from the events of the previous night.

It had been a near-run thing, the operation to secure the device that Stavros had been smuggling. He and Miller had been separated from Bartowski and Walker, and for several tense minutes he was unsure if the duo was alive or dead given the fierce gunfire and opposition from Stavros' men they were facing. Luckily he and Miller had managed to locate them, though that in and of itself was tense enough as well. They had reached the container just as the timer was counting down from 20 seconds, just in time to hear Bartowski say that he wasn't flashing on anything. For the next several seconds, all four had lived with the certain knowledge that they were about to die. Except they hadn't. When the timer went to zero, there was no explosion nor a release of a biological or chemical agent.

Casey grinned as he thought about the reaction of this two partners during that brief timeframe – they had latched onto each other like drowning victims reaching for a life ring and engaged in one of the most passionate kisses he had ever witness, which was saying a lot since the two of them were nauseatingly affectionate towards each other ever since they got the green light to engage in a real relationship. But if Casey was honest with himself, a part of him was jealous of the pair. He hadn't ever regretted his decision to give up a chance at a normal life and family, not really, but at that moment, standing there in front of the device waiting to die, a small part of him had regretted that he didn't have someone hold like his two other partners had held each other.

"That was some kiss Bartowski and Walker shared." Carina said, startling him out of his thoughts as she walked up beside him.

"Yeah." Casey grunted.

"I've been meaning to ask you, John." Carina began, startling him with the use of his first name, "You seem pretty okay with the fact that Bartowski and Walker are engaged in a relationship. I wouldn't have expected that. I'd have thought you'd be railing against the unprofessionalism of it."

"Not that I owe you an explanation, Miller." Casey began gruffly, then stopped. Truth be told, he probably did owe her one, considering she was a full member of the team. "Ok, maybe I do. All be honest, I'm not 100% comfortable with it, for a lot of reasons. I mean, the kid was an asset until a few weeks ago. Then suddenly he's being upgraded to a field analyst and he and Walker are told they can pursue a real relationship? Unusual doesn't even begin to describe the situation. Add to that I've never been a believer in intra-team relationships – too much can go wrong, people can get distracted and then disaster happens. But I'm a good Marine. I obey orders. No matter how I feel about it, the decision has been made, by the President of the United States no less. So all I can do is my job. And hope it doesn't end up blowing up in everyone's face."

"Is that all?" Carina asked. "Just following orders? I've seen some of the looks you've given him when you didn't think anyone was watching. You like him, respect him, don't you?" Casey sighed, he really didn't like talking about his feelings like this.

"Yeah, Miller, I do." Casey said. "I don't how much of the kid's file you've read – I know you're aware of how he got the Intersect and his past relationship to Larkin – but he's had a rough go of it since he was a kid. And despite all that happened, between his parents leaving and the mess with Larkin in college, he's managed to make something of himself, even before Larkin sent him the Intersect. And he's done nothing but continue to surprise me since this all started. I figured he'd be just another computer geek; someone we'd have to hand hold and watch over like a child, even though I'd read about his martial arts training in his file. But he wasn't. The kid's got balls and talent. He may not be up to full agent standards, but for someone who was a civilian until recently, he's impressed me. Besides, even if I didn't respect him, I respect Walker. And she believes in him."

"Wow Casey, you better watch out – that's more lady feelings then I think I've ever heard from you." Carina teased. "What's next, you going to start watching Oprah and the view?" She laughed at the frown that appeared on his face at her teasing. "So what do you think our esteemed partners are up to now? Based on that kiss, I'd be willing to bet somebody got lucky tonight."

"We've got it!" One of the technicians shouted, interrupting Casey before he could respond. He and Carina moved towards the device as the technicians lifted the lid off the device. As they got closer, Carian let out a gasp as they spied the figure laying in the device and then a second one as the figure's eyes opened and let out a gasp of breath.

"What the fuck?!" Casey exclaimed as he looked Bryce Larking, alive and breathing.

 **Sarah Walker's Hotel Room**

 **Maison23**

 **Lost Angeles, CA**

 **November 23, 2007**

 **0830 hours**

Sarah groaned when she heard her cell phone ring. Disentangling herself from where she had fallen asleep, her arms around Chuck and one of her legs wrapped around him as well. She smiled as she thought back to what had transpired after she and Chuck had returned to her hotel room last night. She had been waiting much too long to make love to Chuck again but it had been worth it. Chuck had always been a great lover in the previous timeline, but he was even better in this one. True when it came to his tenderness and emotions he was much the same, but the added confidence that had been instilled in him, not to mention the many years of physical development, development that hadn't happened to nearly the same extent in the previous timeline, had only improved on what Sarah remembered.

Sarah grabbed her phone from the night stand and looked at the caller ID, then answered it.

"This better be good Casey." Sarah said.

"Walker, you better get over to the black site. And collect Bartowski while you're at it. We've got a situation here." Casey said, then hung up.

"What's up?" Chuck asked, sitting up in bed, running his hands through his hair.

"Not sure. Casey wants us at the black side ASAP." Sarah replied, although of course she already knew why Casey wanted them there.

"I guess it was too much to hope for a day off to spend in bed, huh?" Chuck said with a grin.

"Unfortunately not, no matter how much we want it." Sarah replied. The two partners exchanged a brief kiss and then got out of bed and began getting ready.

Fifteen minutes later they were dressed and heading to Sarah's car to begin the thirty minute drive to the black site.

 **CIA/NSA Black Research Facility**

 **Outside Los Angeles, CA**

 **November 23, 2007**

 **0900 hours**

"Ok Casey, Carina, what's the big emergency?" Sarah demanded as her and Chuck walked up to their other partners. "Chuck and I had plans today that didn't include driving all the way out here."

"And what plans might those have been?" Carina asked with a smirk. "Although I can probably guess from the blush on Chuck's face and the glow you're giving off, Walker." Next to her Casey grunted in slight disgust.

"Ugh. So you two finally decided to start dipping your chocolate and peanut butter." Casey said.

"Shut it Casey." Sarah warned. "What Chuck and I do off duty is none of your concern. Now what's going on?

"The techs finally got the device opened around 0800." Carina said.

"And?" Sarah asked. "What was Stavros smuggling in it?"

"Not a what, Walker." Carina replied, "More of a who, to be completely accurate." She then motioned for Sarah and Chuck to follow her. They walked down a corridor and approached what looked like a medical infirmary. Off to one side was a secure isolation room. The four agents approached the viewing window a moment later. Sarah steeled herself for what was coming next.

"Oh my God, Bryce?!" Chuck exclaimed, then turned to Sarah and Casey in turn. "I thought you said he was dead?!

"He was." Sarah replied, feigning her own shock. "At least that's what Graham told me. Casey killed him during his attempt to steal the Intersect."

"I put three bullets into him center mass." Casey said. "I personally checked his pulse; he was dead. I don't know why he didn't stay that way. The cleanup team arrive within minutes and loaded him into the van for transport and disposal."

"What the hell is going on here?" Chuck asked.

 **CIA/NSA Black Research Facility**

 **Outside Los Angeles, CA**

 **November 23, 2007**

 **1030 hours**

"As far as our technicians can determine, the device that Larkin was in was some kind of life support pod." Beckman said from the video screen. "According to Doctor Mulvie, there's evidence of massive invasive life-saving surgery. I dispatched a team to the Greenview Cemetery to exhume his grave. The coffin was empty. All tests indicate that it is Agent Larkin, as unbelievable as it seems."

"What the hell was Stavros doing with him?" Casey asked.

"Unknown. But the intelligence gathered from the prisoners you took seems to indicate that Stavros was merely transporting him as a contract job and was unaware of the contents." Beckman replied.

"This doesn't make any sense." Carina said. "Has he said anything?"

"No." Beckman said, frowning. "He refuses to talk to anyone but Chuck."

"Why me?" Chuck said. "I'd think I'd be the last person he wants to talk to, all things considered."

"I don't know." Beckman said, "But I don't think we have a choice. I'd like for you to speak with him."

"General, I'm not sure that's a good idea." Sarah said. She of course knew why Bryce wanted to talk to Chuck, and that he would be ok, but she had to keep up appearances. "We still don't know what Bryce was thinking stealing the Intersect and sending it to Chuck. I'm not sure we should put Chuck or the Intersect in close proximity to him."

"As I said, Agent Walker, we don't have a choice." Beckman replied. "We have to find out why Larkin did what he did, and any other information we can about what happened to him. We will take every precaution to ensure Chuck's safety. I want all three of you in the room as well. If Larkin is rogue, and he tries anything, I have complete faith that you'll be able to stop him." A moment later the screen went dark as Beckman cut the connection.

"Doesn't she every say goodbye?" Chuck asked.

"She's a general, Bartowski, she doesn't need to be polite." Casey responded.

 **CIA/NSA Black Research Facility**

 **Outside Los Angeles, CA**

 **November 23, 2007**

 **1400 hours**

"Chuck? Is that really you?" Bryce Larkin asked from the hospital bed he was strapped to. His eyes flicked over his former college roommate and friend for a moment, before continuing. "How do I know it's really you?"

"crap, pe' Bryce. qaSpu'Dl' nuq tlhaQ DaqaSmoH DeSDu' Stanford, vaj glad naDev[1]." Chuck replied. Bryce looked slightly abashed for a moment, then chuckled.

"You're Klingon is a little rusty." He said. Then noticed Casey, Sarah and Carina in the room and frowned. "What are they doing here? I said I wanted to speak with you alone." Chuck snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Really Bryce? After everything that's gone on, that's your first question?" Chuck said. "Not an apology for almost ruining my life by framing me for cheating at Stanford? Or making decisions about MY life path without the slightest thought that maybe I should be involved? No? How about explaining why, after you went all that trouble to get me kicked out of Stanford so I wouldn't get recruited by the CIA you decided to send me the damned Intersect?"

"You know about that?" Bryce asked, somewhat shocked, both at the revelation and the anger in Chuck's voice.

"Yes Bryce, I know. To bring you up to speed, you're little plan of getting me out of Stanford to avoid the CIA only partially worked. See, pretty quickly I figured out that something was up – after all, I HADN'T cheated. So I decided to appeal the expulsion. And Stanford's review committee agreed that I was improperly expelled. And since they couldn't track to down the witness to my supposed cheating, namely one Bryce Larkin, they had no choice but expunge my record." Chuck said. "So I got my degree. Granted, by that time the CIA had moved on, not that I knew anything about that. But then you sent me the Intersect and it downloaded into my brain. What, you thought the CIA/NSA wasn't going to trace who the e-mail went to? Thank God Sarah was the one to find me. She at least had the decency to try and figure out what the connection between you and I was and what had happened. I shudder to think what would have happened if someone else got to me first. They probably would have put a bullet in me."

"So she told you about Stanford? How? Nobody but Fleming and I-" Bryce trailed off.

"No Sarah didn't known." Chuck said. Behind him, Sarah kept her features schooled, not wanting to let the feeling of shame show over the fact that she did in fact know but hadn't told him. "I found out a few weeks ago, when Fulcrum went after Professor Fleming. Luckily we were able to save him."

"We?"

"Yeah Larkin, we." Casey said, speaking for the first time. "See once we figured out what had happened to the Intersect, Walker and I were assigned to protect Chuck and be his handlers. Except it didn't stay that way. Pretty quickly we, and our bosses, figured out that Bartowski is pretty damn competent. So it didn't take long before he was more of a partner. He's now a Field Analyst."

"No, no, no. Chuck listen to me, this life isn't for you-" Bryce began.

"Shut it Bryce." Chuck responded harshly. "That's not your decision to make, never was. And for your information, I'm pretty good at this. I doubt I can ever be an agent like Sarah, or John, or Carina, but as a Field Analyst, I can do the job. Even without the Intersect. But frankly, it doesn't matter. You sending me the Intersect pretty much guaranteed I'd get pulled into this life. At least as a Field Analyst instead of an asset I have some control over my life."

"I don't know Chuckles." Carina said. "Granted I've only been on the team for a few weeks, but I think you might be selling yourself short. You'd probably make an ok agent." Chuck nodded in thanks to her.

"So that explains Sarah and Casey. What about the walking brothel over there?" Bryce said. There was silence for few seconds after Bryce's words, the three other occupants at a loss for how to respond at first. That silence ended shortly thereafter when Chuck spoke.

"What did you call her?" he asked, his voice suddenly going cold in a passable imitation of either Sarah or Casey when they were pissed off. Without giving Bryce a chance to respond, he continued. "Look Bryce, understand something, and understand it good. These three behind me are my partners. They've had my back since this started and I've NEVER had to question whether or not they were looking out for my best interest. Not something I can say about YOU. On top of that, I respect the work they've done and their skills. So don't ever FUCKING insult one of them like that again! If you do, you and I are going to have a problem. I don't care that you're Bryce Larkin super-spy. I'll knock you on your ass so hard you won't be able to sit down for weeks!"

"Get real Chuck." Bryce said. "I know you've been studying martial arts for a few years but you can't seriously think you can go up against a trained agent." Sarah let out a laugh.

"Larkin, let me tell you something." She said, deliberately using his last name. Bryce's reaction was almost like being slapped in the face. "Chuck's done more than study martial arts the last few years. He's a black belt in Taekwondo, Akido, and Karate. And he's taken up several other disciplines. So yeah, I'd put my money on him over you. Especially since Casey, Carina and I have been giving him tradecraft training as well the last couple of months."

"Alright Bryce, let's cut the crap." Chuck said. "You wanted to see me. So here I am. Start talking. Why'd you steal the Intersect? Why'd you send it to me? And how are you still alive? Everyone thought you were dead."

"I was. But THEY brought me back. They wanted the Intersect." Bryce said.

"You mean Fulcrum." Sarah stated. Bryce nodded.

"How?" Chuck asked. Bryce started coughing. After a few seconds he stopped.

"Sorry. All this talking." He apologized. "Can you come closer so I don't have to strain my voice?"

"Bartowski, don't." Casey said.

"Relax big guy, I got this." Chuck said, moving closer. Sarah had to force herself from reacting, knowing what was about to happen. Though the lead-up conversation was different from last time around, she could see the calculation in Bryce's eyes and knew that he was going to try the same thing he did in the last time line. Luckily, this time around, she felt confident that Chuck could handle it and Bryce wouldn't be able to get out of the facility. In fact, prior to showing up her, she and Chuck had discussed several contingencies.

When Chuck was next to Bryce, the later broke out of his restraints in a flash, grabbing Chuck and a syringe at the same time, holding it to Chuck's neck. Casey, Carina and Sarah all immediately drew their weapons and pointed them at the pair.

"Put them down." Bryce commanded.

"Not a chance, Larkin." Casey responded.

"Oh, so you want to try again?" Bryce taunted. "It worked out so well for you last time."

"We're not lowering out weapons, Bryce." Sarah said. "And if you do anything to Chuck, I'll personally ensure you stay dead this time."

"Touching." Bryce said, looking at Sarah intently. "Why do I get the sense that your concern is more than just professional? Oh how the mighty haven fallen. Wait till Graham here's about this. His mighty Enforcer, smitten with an asset."

"I'm not an asset." Chuck said, coolly.

"Oh don't kid yourself, Chuck. Of course you are. No matter what they tell you." Byrce laughed. "I mean, come on, you let a hospital bed bound, injured agent take you hostage. No real spy would do that."

"Unless it was to do this." Chuck said. He then executed a perfect disarming technique, followed by a submission hold on Bryce. Casey came over and quickly moved the syringe away from the pair and produced a pair of hand cuffs and restrained Bryce.

"Well, I think that answers that question about whether or not Chuck could take you, Larkin." Carina said, grinning. All three partners shared a chuckle at the shocked expression that was on Bryce's face.

"Now, if you're done acting like a complete jackass," Chuck said. "Maybe you'd like to answer the question? Otherwise, I'd be more than ok with letting Casey have some fun." Bryce sighed, defeated.

"Fine. But we're not through talking about you joining the CIA." Bryce said. "About six months ago I was approached by someone purporting to be working on an off-the-books operation to ferret out traitors within the CIA. They didn't come out and say it directly, but intimated that they were operating under the direct orders of Graham. They knew my access codes, all of them, including the one that Graham gave me for when he needed to give me an order outside the normal chain. He claimed that he had information that Fulcrum operatives were going to make an attempt to steal the Intersect, with the help of the traitors. I was told that the information had been brought to the attention of the Director, the NSA, and the President, but that it wasn't believed. I was ordered to retrieve the Intersect data in order to draw out Fulcrum. But I guess something didn't sit right with me, though I couldn't put my finger on it. So I went along and tried to keep my eyes and ears open. It was when I infiltrated the NSA data center and downloaded the Intersect data that I finally got my first real indication that everything was not as it seemed. Security seemed to be much tighter than I was led to believe was the case. And then I recognized one of the agents who responded to the alarms as the driver of my contact."

Bryce stopped and looked at the foursome, staring into each of their eyes, as is willing them to believe him.

"That's when I realized I had been set up, though I still wasn't sure by whom. It could have been Fulcrum, or it could have been that Graham decided that I was a liability to him. If it was Fulcrum, I had to get the data away from me. I needed someone who wasn't connected with the CIA or NSA. That's when I remembered it was Chuck's birthday. So I sent it to him." Bryce said. "You know most of the next part of the story. I managed to get out of the main facility, but Casey caught up to me and shot me. You were right; I was dead. I clearly remember seeing the tunnel and bright light, all the stuff you hear about. Then the next thing I know I'm waking up in a clinic in Finland, and find out that I'm in the custody of Fulcrum. They wanted to know where the Intersect was. So I told them I had downloaded it into my head. Needless to say, they made sure to keep me alive after that. Then a few days ago they drugged me up and the last thing I remember was being loaded into a container. Then I woke up here."

"That's quite a tale, Larkin." Carina said. "But how do we know you're telling the truth? I mean, yeah, that parts of your story are certainly easy to verify. We know you stole the Intersect, sent it to Chuck, that Casey shot you and that we found you in that container. But how do we know the rest of it is true?"

"I don't know how to prove it to you." Bryce said. "I get it. If I was in your shoes, I'd be skeptical too. I can give you the name of the agent, but that alone won't necessarily prove anything."

"What's his name?" Sarah asked, knowing that in the last timeline, the agent who had been handling Bryce had been in the Intersect and cause Chuck to flash. If it was the same, and Chuck could flash now, they'd be able to apprehend him before things got any more complicated.

"Tommy Delgado." Bryce said, barely finishing the name before the telltale sign of an Intersect flash over took Chuck.

* * *

[1] "Cut the crap, Bryce. After what you pulled at Stanford, you should be glad I'm even here."


End file.
